Goliath in the Room
by Murphieschecker
Summary: There would always be surprises when running a school that teaches teenagers to fight monsters, but Ozpin thought he'd seen it all and knew what to do under any circumstance. He was wrong. And this coming year would be one he could never had guessed could happen.
1. Chapter 1

Goliath in the Room

It was near the start of the new year at Beacon, seeing Ozpin in his office going over what should be the last few applications for students.

It was his favourite time to do so, when his second in command, Glynda Goodwitch as she called herself, was busy in Vale sorting out the last few purchases and deliveries the academy expected to need. Without her going over all his paperwork, just in case he accepted a house-cat as a student again, he could get away with some more... well, he wouldn't call them dubious per se, but she certainly seemed to consider them questionable.

He could only be glad that she hadn't been on the staff when he accepted the siblings from a bandit clan as students. If she discovered that it was really him that allowed them in his life expectancy would drop significantly.

There was a call on his scroll as he signed off on the application from an untrained student pretending to have the required grades. He accepted the call, curious as to why someone would be calling at this time.

"Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon." There was a pause. "I can't say I was expecting to hear from you. I suppose that is correct. Yes, I suppose that makes sense, but the rules... I should have realised you would have checked before contacting me. Is there anything else? Of course. In that case, see you in Beacon."

With the call ended Ozpin turned to the coffee maker Doctor Oobleck had given him as a present a few years before. People kept telling him that drinking coffee allowed them to work longer. And by the sound of things he would have a lot more work going further.

Reluctantly the headmaster poured his very first cup of coffee and took a long drink.

[]

Jaune Arc could hardly believe it when he received the message of acceptance into Beacon. It had been a wild hope that, despite his failure at getting anyone to train him, some faked transcripts would get him accepted. Surely the headmaster would spot the deceit and he would be forced to give up his dream.

Already he had started making plans as to what he would tell his family when he returned. Instead his dream was to come true.

"Maybe dreams really can come true," he smiled at the thought. "I can't wait to meet my partner."

[]

Pyrrha Nikos stepped off the bullhead that had brought to Vale with a smile. She realised that even here a lot of people would have heard of her, but surely this far from Mistral people wouldn't think they knew who she was just from seeing her fight a tournament.

"Who knows," she whispered to herself, "I might even find a partner who never heard of me."

In any case, the next few years should definitely be different.

[]

Nora Valkyrie chattered excitedly as she dragged her childhood friend Lie Ren through the gates of Vale. For most people, even Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, the journey on foot from town to city was too dangerous to even contemplate.

Ironically the knowledge of this danger meant that travellers would be scared enough to attract the monsters of Grimm, creating the very danger they were scared of, but things were different for them.

After surviving a Grimm attack that wiped out their village any fear was dulled enough that they only had to deal with the Grimm they wandered into.

His semblance also helped their situation, letting him mask them completely from the senses of the monsters.

He looked upon their future with hope. At Beacon they would have a home free from Grimm. And, if he was lucky, he might get put on a different team than Nora. Maybe, finally, he would get some peace and quiet.

He could only hope.

[]

Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long were in high spirits as they returned to the hotel their dad had booked for them to stay at in the build up to Yang attending Beacon.

Except now Ruby was going to attend with her, a whole two years early. Plus, Yang admitted to herself, she wasn't getting punished for starting a fight in a bar.

Ruby suddenly froze.

Yang raised an eyebrow at her sister. "Everything alright?"

She slowly turned to face Yang. "None of my friends will be there. I won't know anyone else at Beacon."

"Hey, you've met my friends before."

"That isn't the same and you know it."

"It won't be that bad. Tell you what, I'll come up with some ideas to help you make some friends, okay?"

"Really? You'll do that? You're the best sis!" Ruby was already hugging Yang.

Yang could only chuckle nervously, already trying to think of some kind of plan to get herself out of the mess she'd just got herself into. Trying to help Ruby make friends had never gone well for her before, with her either getting them as her friend instead or scaring them off completely.

Still, how bad could things be in Beacon? The students would still be human and Faunus.

[]

Weiss Schnee couldn't stop herself from pacing in the bullhead taking her to Vale.

Her father had delayed her journey for as long as he could, trying to make her reconsider her decision to study outside an academy he could influence.

In doing so he had only managed to ensure that her resolve would harden. At first she had been firm in her plans to return as heiress and reform the SDC, which she was going to make plain to her father when she left, but now she wasn't so sure. If getting free from him was this difficult, could she really risk returning to his control?

Instead she had left without making her future position clear, all but hiding from the discussion that would have happened.

It was only now, with her reconsidering her goal in life, that she questioned what she really wanted. "If I can find someone who knows what they want out of life," she mused, "maybe they can help me find an answer. Of course they would have to be able to stand up to father..."

She nodded. All she needed was to find the right partner. And how hard could that be? After all, she was bound to be one of the students closest to perfection. Who wouldn't be lining up to be her partner?

[]

Blake Belladonna tied a ribbon round her ears, looking in the mirror to make sure it looked like a bow rather than a Faunus hiding their traits to pretend to be human.

The headmaster had realised who she was- who she had been from her application, but allowed her to convince him to give her a chance. But that didn't mean she was going to let the whole school know her heritage.

All it would take would be some racist asking the right, or should that be wrong, questions, and they would find out too much. And if they weren't careful with their questions the wrong people could figure out where she was. And she wasn't ready to face them yet.

She checked the bags she had packed, making sure that all of _those_ books were safely hidden, and picked them up, before preparing to leave the restroom through the same means she had entered it.

Blake spared one last look to the mirror and sighed.

"Sorry, Kali and Gira, but I can't face you just yet."

[]

At Beacon, Ozpin stood awaiting the new arrivals, latest cup of coffee in hand.

He was going to need it.

**Authors Note: As may be apparent this is my first attempt at a) writing fanfiction and b) publishing on a fanfiction website. As such, section breaks may not show up properly in the chapter until I get the hang of what will actually remain between saving the file and uploading it. In addition, updates may not be as often as people might like and almost certainly will not be according to a schedule. On the other hand, I will try to announce any hiatus in the final chapter (before hiatus) author note.**

**Further, there are no characters listed in the tags because I plan to use more than 4 characters as the focus of the story, and the only character that stands out enough to fit the tag is a bit of a spoiler for the second chapter (which will be longer than this one that just serves to set the scene).**


	2. Chapter 2: Enter the Goliath

Enter the Goliath

Ozpin sipped his coffee as he watched the potential students file into the auditorium. He couldn't help but wonder how they would take what he was about to reveal to them, then shook his head. They weren't going to take it well. None of them.

Next to him miss Goodwitch was trying to pretend she wasn't glowering at her newest colleague and that she was instead watching over the students.

"Since when do you drink coffee," she hissed at him without seeming to move her mouth. And likely without anyone else hearing.

Ozpin lifted the mug to hide his answer. "Since I need it to stay awake. I'm hoping to get some sleep again before the end of the month."

"Tell me you aren't serious."

"Do you think I left that project to you alone?"

That was enough to silence Glyndas protests. Just as the last applicants filed in and the doors closed behind them. It was time for his speech.

Ozpin take another drink from his mug, drawing a frown from miss Goodwitch who must have realised that by this point he had drunk more coffee than the mug could possibly contain.

"Applicants," Ozpin began, "I must confess that while I had a speech prepared for today I must now give a different one. Due to events entirely out of my control." Miss Goodwitch snorted. "Recently someone has appeared with a certain claim on my position here at Beacon. Fortunately she has agreed to work with me as co-headmistress. Naturally this has come with certain conditions. Before I cover these allow me to introduce the newest member of our faculty." He took a deep drink from his mug. "Salem. Queen of the Grimm."

[]

Jaune stood amid the silence that followed Ozpins announcement. There was no way this could be happening. Wait- what if this was a practical joke Ozpin was playing on him for trying to get in with forged transcripts? Maybe the others were a mix of actors and frauds like him?

He saw a woman with skin that seemed pale even beyond white, with glowing red eyes and visible veins across her face and gulped. This wasn't a practical joke was it? How had things gone so wrong?

He wasn't alone in his thoughts judging by the reactions of the black haired girl wearing a bow in her hair and the red haired girl, whose reactions were among the most extreme.

A question ran through his head; how did the queen of the Grimm have a claim on the position of head of Beacon? Could he use that for blackmail in case his fraudulent transcripts were ever found out?

[]

Salem smiled as she looked over the shocked faces of Beacons applicants. This was indeed looking like a far better revenge upon Oz than any she had previously considered. And to think, the means was lying in some legal technicalities that they had both overlooked.

She was still his wife.

Granted, he had died many times since then, but the actual line was "until death do we part" and they hadn't parted quite that much, had they? And for all of his careful work to set up his inheritance of his own position, that worked for her as well.

Admittedly the details had taken some time and effort to work out, but considering that _Tyrian_ was the one to realise the potential that was hardly surprising. But then, what in life was not worth all the more from the challenge?

"Good evening. My presence will change certain things around Beacon, but don't worry. I don't have any plans to go around stealing peoples souls or locking them in basements," Oz shifted almost nervously next to her, "it will be more along the lines of certain applicants I've had added to the list. You'll get to see them tomorrow, at initiation." Salems smile widened as she caught the glance Glynda gave Oz, clearly questioning what students she had added to Beacon, and what role they would play in her plans.

It amused her, the way they would be spending so much time wondering what her plans were, when they boiled down to destroying faith in Oz, ruining all he worked towards, through her mere presence.

"My role at Beacon will keep me mostly out of the way of you students," she lied without any concern, "just like the headmaster."

Oz looked at her, taking a drink from his mug. Her eyes narrowed at the memories that mug brought back. He turned back to the crowd, clearly deciding that calling her out on her lies would only lead to more problems as she revealed his own. If only she had realised what joy she could get from subtle attacks upon Oz while able to see his response.

"Indeed, the plan is for my..." he paused for a drink, clearly using it to consider his words. "My colleague to be much more involved in an administrative role rather than a teaching one. For now, we shall leave you to get some sleep and prepare for initiation, with a final piece of advice." He took another drink, confirming Salems suspicions about the mug. "All of you have the potential required to study here, the energy to train and improve yourselves. This as how it should be. Do not squander your energy in other pursuits, squander your potential through impatience. No matter what goals you have in life, now is not the time to fulfil them. Now is the time to prepare yourselves to meet them."

He nodded to the collected teenagers, and walked away from the stage, leaving the auditorium while they remained in a state of stunned silence.

Salem brought her hands together in a slow, deliberate manner. "What an intriguing amount of nothing," she commented, quietly enough that her clapping would cover it for the students but loud enough for the staff to hear. The glares she received only made her smile.

Perhaps she should have tried Tyrians plans more often.

[]

Pyrrha was certain she wasn't alone in wondering just what was going on, even if she started working through the problem logically.

If this Salem was the source of the Grimm, as her title almost suggested, that brought up a worrying question of how exactly the headmaster knew her, how she had a claim on his position. But it was also an opportunity. Her semblance was all but useless against Grimm, but if there was a more normal person responsible for their existence, maybe it could prove more valuable to Remnant than she had believed. The existence of Salem could allow her to be proud of her semblance for the first time in her life.

On the other hand, could this Salem have become queen of the Grimm? If she knew the headmaster from before it could explain everything. Perhaps she only became queen recently, and wasn't responsible for all the harm they had done to the kingdoms.

It was too soon for her to decide on a course of action. She needed to know more about what was going on.

"Are you even listening to me?"

Pyrrha started, realising someone had been trying to speak with her. "I'm sorry, I was caught up thinking about..." she trailed off, uncertain how to phrase it.

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "You think any of that was real? What series of events would bring a so-called 'queen of the Grimm' to a huntsman academy, other than at the head of an army of Grimm aiming to destroy it? Clearly it's some kind of test, maybe to scare off unsuitable applicants."

"I-I suppose you're right. Ah, miss Schnee wasn't it?"

She winced slightly, such that Pyrrha only noticed thanks to her training. "Weiss, please. Miss Schnee sounds too much like my sister. It's not that I don't respect her. It's just..."

"I understand completely. I respect my family, but don't want to be them. It feels too close to being judged based entirely as my strength rather than as my own person."

Weiss winced slightly, hiding the reaction as best she could once again. "I see. I hadn't expected to meet anyone in such a... similar situation to my own. At initiation, when... actually no," she shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair. I apologise for wasting your time."

[]

Weiss drifted away from Pyrrha, questioning her motivations in seeking a partner. She had always hated being judged based on her family, what she was rather than who. Pyrrha had brought it up by accident, but Weiss could now see she had been doing the same.

It would be best to wait until teams were formed in initiation, let it happen more naturally.

Naturally she would refuse to accept an unsuitable partner, they would only cause problems for the rest of her time at Beacon, but she couldn't let their previous achievements dictate their worth to her. In that way she would become just like her father. Truly, a fate worse than death.

At least her words seemed to have calmed down the championship fighter.

If only she could feel as reassured...

[]

Cardin Winchester wasn't the sort to let anyone shake his confidence. Maybe this Salem was the queen of the Grimm, but that just meant he would have a quick and easy shortcut to being the hero he knew he was going to be. And if she wasn't, well, unmasking an impostor would be a good start.

He grabbed the arm of one of the other students he had spotted as they walked past. "Your weapon looks old."

The blonde boy responded nervously. "Uh, yeah, it's something of a family heirloom."

"Thought so. Old family, right? There are a few of us here. We're planning to try and make a team, show that we don't need fancy mechashift weapons to be Huntsmen. We already have a teams worth, but there's no reason we can't help other scions. Just so long as you don't drag our reputation down."

[]

Blake sat against the wall, drawing out the top entry of her book bag. It was one she'd read before, and quite recently too, but people tended not to approach others who were reading, and it would give her a chance to think through what had been revealed.

If this Salem was for real, maybe she had something to do with Adam changing. And if so, there was a chance she could get him, the real him, back.

"Um, hi."

Blake glared over the top of her book. Why couldn't some people take a hint? If you sat out of the way in a room full of people and got out a book chances were that you didn't want to socialise. "What?"

"It's just, I noticed you react rather strongly when Salem was introduced," the blond (almost the opposite of Adams hair colour) boy said, scratching the back of his head.

Blakes eyes narrowed. What was up with this guy? His pose, too relaxed, almost innocent in a way that trained Huntsmen could never manage. A plant to keep an eye on her? No, too obvious, he even approached her and asked her outright about her reaction. A 'friend' for her to rely on? Maybe, but surely Ozpin would be able to get someone with training to look out for her. One of Salems students? She said they would meet them at initiation, but could they really trust a self-proclaimed queen of the Grimm? There were too many questions.

"How is a student at an academy that teaches them to kill Grimm supposed to react?"

"I have no idea, but nobody else seemed to react quite the same. It almost seemed you thought... ah, never mind."

"Never mind what?"

A small girl wearing a red cape had appeared next to them, and Blake stifled a groan. What had she done to deserve this? She had _left_ the terrorist organisation for crying out loud!

"What sort of book is that anyway?"

Damn it, now the girl was talking to her. And she was inquisitive. That could only spell trouble.

"Not one you'd be interested in."

"If you say that's because it doesn't have pictures..."

"It does actually, of the nightmarish creatures within." Wait, no that was her other book. Well, at least it should scare off the child.

"Like Grimm? Can I see?"

Damnit.

It was almost a relief the teachers calling lights out. Sure she couldn't use her book to help her think, but at least it should get her some peace.

[]

Yang watched Ruby as she interacted with new people. Yes, her plan worked. Well, sort of. She was claiming it had been her plan all along, and it had worked, so...

Plus the introduction of this 'Salem' seemed to distract Ruby from the incident earlier, with the Dust.

And the 'queen of the Grimm' thing was surely a nickname of some sort, as befitted a Huntress who could fight even giant Grimm in a fair fight. Of course if it wasn't, and Salem tried anything with Ruby, she wouldn't last long at Beacon.

Yang grinned, even as her eyes flashed red. Yes, things were working out.

[]

The applicants always had certain questions going through their heads come initiation, Ozpin mused as he took another drink from his mug, but this current batch clearly had more questions than most.

"You do realise that this is rather different from what I expected," he commented to Salem, who seemed amused by something. It wasn't hard to guess what.

"I told you I would be bringing some extra applicants."

"Indeed, and the extra relics," she reacted to the word before realising what he meant, "caused problems with my original plan. But I guess pairing up teams based on matching items rather than working together wasn't the best idea I ever had. But I had expected rather different applicants."

He swept his gaze over the Hunters to be, nervous looking humans and Faunus and their fellow applicants.

A bunch of Grimm.

It looked to Ozpin as though miss Goodwitch had gone into a state of catatonic shock, brain desperately trying to parse the concept of Grimm training as Hunters.

"The badges, I guess I should call them, are a part of them I presume? A method to distinguish them from other Grimm."

"A way to grant them souls, of a sort. They will have greater intelligence than other Grimm, as well as the protection of... of aura."

"A protection equivalent to aura then. At least they should be easy to tell from the inhabitants of the forest."

Ozpin took a long drink from his mug. It was a good thing he had spent the last night planning contingencies rather than trying to sleep as Glynda had suggested. It was true what they said, with enough coffee you didn't need sleep. And while he might not have appreciated the taste at first, it was starting to grow on him.

He tapped his cane, drawing the attention of all the applicants. "Initiation is simple. A number of relics are hidden in the ruins within the woods. To pass you need to collect a relic. On the way to the ruins you will form a pair. The pair only needs one relic." He paused. "I shouldn't have kept my notes on the desktop. Anyway, your partner is the first applicant you lock eyes with who doesn't already have a partner. The only exception to this rule is that Grimm cannot partner with Grimm."

"Why not?"

"Because the Grimm present here lack one important thing." He took another drink. "Opposable thumbs. A Grimm pair would be unable to collect a relic. Within the forest there are natural Grimm that will serve as obstacles. It is up to you to evade or eliminate them. However, deliberately attacking a fellow applicant, even one of the Grimm, will be frowned upon. I do not usually feel it necessary to mention, but initiation is watched by camera and recorded. If you do attack a fellow applicant we will know. Any questions?"

There were a number of raised hands. "Why do you keep saying applicants?"

"Because there aren't enough relics for everyone. There are more than previously planned due to the recent applicants."

"How do we get into the forest?"

"Like so," he nodded to Salem, who pressed the launch button on her scroll. It was a good thing he had a contingency for miss Goodwitch being indisposed.

One by one the applicants were launched into the air in the direction of the forest.

Good. That time one was launched in the wrong direction was something he didn't want to repeat.

"Grimm students!"

Ozpin recognised the emotions in his deputies voice. They practically matched his own. "Yes. I discovered that we have no rules against it." Normally he would have added that they would soon, but given that Salem had equal say on matters of policy? That wouldn't fly. Unlike some of his potential students. He took a long drink from his mug and pulled out his scroll. "They just need to pass initiation, but there's no guarantee about it."

Salem laughed. It wasn't a familiar laugh, not the one he remembered almost fondly, but a darker laugh. "Isn't there Oz? Do you doubt me that much?"

"Given that you have infinite reserves and still haven't destroyed the kingdoms? Yes."

He was truly glad that a subcontractor had messed up and placed a camera facing the launch pads. Otherwise he would have missed the expression on Salems face.

**AN: And so the change from canon is revealed: Tyrian heard about Salems history with Oz and made a suggestion she listened to. Any guesses as to what these Grimm mean for the teams?**

**Side note: It doesn't seem fair not to mention, but I have played the Rwby tabletop rpg a couple of times and am making references to those games. The cat Ozpin accepted into Beacon? That started as a joke in character creation, but ended up as a character playing a joke on Ozpin.**


	3. Chapter 3: Grimmnitiation

Grimmnitiation

Things weren't exactly going as Jaune had planned.

Somehow his expectations for Beacon had missed out the possibility of either Grimm being accepted as students or the students being launched off a cliff into a Grimm infested forest.

As such he felt he could be excused for his panicked lack of a plan and screaming as he hurtled towards his death.

Both came to an end when he impacted something sharing his airspace and its feathers blocked his scream.

It took him just seconds to realise what had happened.

He crashed into a... Nevermore? That was the name of the birdlike Grimm, wasn't it? In any case, he was going to call it a Nevermore.

The pair hurtled towards the ground, at a more survivable rate at least, but that didn't do much for Jaune given that the Nevermore was almost certain to kill him when it had its wings free once more, rather than him pinning one to its side as he clung on for his life.

The eventual impact with the ground was softer than he had feared, but was still enough to shake him loose from the Nevermore, bouncing and rolling across the floor.

He came to a rest facing the Grimm, which squawked and flapped its wings. At least it tried to, but the wing Jaune had hung onto wasn't moving. It lifted itself onto its talons and reared back, proclaiming the injustice it faced. A blue glow could be seen on its chest.

"Oh. You're one of the applicants aren't you."

Jaune hesitated. Sure, this was potentially one of his fellow students, and technically his partner, but it was also a Grimm. Then again, it seemed to be crying in pain, and was fixing him with a baleful glare.

"Oh alright. I'll take a look at it." He was here to be a hero after all, and bailing on his partner was hardly a good way to get started. Plus growing up with so many sisters had left him weak to cries for help.

It was only once he had his hands full that the other Grimm appeared.

[]

Ren was unsurprised at Nora appearing just after he had killed the King Taijitu. She wasn't the sort to skip a fight so she must have arrived once he was done, but getting her as his partner was just business as usual.

It had crossed his mind that the Grimm could have been one that this 'Salem' had brought into the school, but if that was the case surely it wouldn't have attacked. Unless of course her plan was to try and get all the real students expelled for fighting back.

He pretty much ignored what Nora was saying, not entirely due to how much she spoke while saying so little, but also because he could hear sounds from vaguely nearby. Almost like a fight involving Grimm but he couldn't hear any sounds of human weaponry.

Nora noticed. "You hear something?"

"Someone could need help."

"Lead on! Who's a good boy?"

Ren sighed internally as she returned to her insanity. At least she tried to be a good person and was able to be quiet when tracking people.

When they found where the noise had been coming from Ren froze. He was unable to think of an adequate response before Nora spoke.

"Shouldn't you be making stuttered denials when someone finds you with a chick sat on you?"

The blonde boy, pinned under a Nevermore, clearly didn't get Noras attempt at humour.

Ren took in the scene. A Nevermore, with one of the lightly glowing badges on its chest, pinning one of the other students to the ground. There were Nevermore feathers sunk into the trees around the clearing. The boy was covered in scratches. Normally someone involved in a fight with Grimm would receive serious injury from the attack that broke their aura, so either this kid had small aura reserves or "you don't have your aura unlocked, do you?"

The way the Nevermore was crouched on him was either it keeping him trapped or it protecting him from the other Grimm while it fended them off. Given the lack of serious injuries the protection angle seemed more likely. The obvious question was why the Nevermore would protect a human, but perhaps this Salem had a justification for bringing Grimm into the school.

"You got into Beacon without aura?" Nora was excited, and barely seemed to notice the Nevermore as she bounced it off the kid. "What are you, like so super amazing that nobodies been able to hit you in a spar so that they didn't realise you had no aura? You must be like... like Ren version 2!"

Ren sighed at her exuberance and turned to face the Nevermore, which was awkwardly getting to its feet again. "I'm sorry about her. Noras always been excitable."

The Nevermore gave him a forgiving look, but Nora a look that seemed to promise vengeance.

"I know, if you're so amazing without aura, think how much better you'll be with aura!" Nora placed a hand on the boys shoulder and started to recite a chant. A glow effused the both of them. "For it is in our friends that we find immortality. Through this we share our strength to rise above all others, never separated by distance or death. I release your soul and through my awesome protect thee."

"Nora, you can't just release someones aura without asking."

"What do you mean? I just did."

[]

"We seem to have our first team," Ozpin commented, drawing out their initials on his scroll. He hesitated a moment. "Do these Grimm have names?"

Salem shrugged. "None that they told me."

"Ozpin, I know for sure that I checked each application with the school that provided them to ensure we weren't accepting a cat or anything silly like that this year..."

"And I trust that Jaune Arc will justify my decision just as well." Now lets see... N, J or A, R or L and another N or V... Lie Ren could make a good leader for team RAVN but there was no guarantee the team would listen to him in a combat situation.

"At least his aura was unlocked before he could take any serious injury. Even if that chant was... unique."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "You didn't seriously expect miss Valkyrie to use the standard chant?" She seemed to make the plans that Ren followed, so maybe she should be leader. What name would fit...

"Isn't it too soon to declare them a team? They haven't even collected a relic yet." It was clear Salem had never been in this situation before.

"You try coming up with a team name for every team in initiation between its conclusion and the ceremony. Its always better to start work as soon as the first signs of the team show." Team NVAR? No, the Nevermore wasn't likely to make leader.

[]

Yang felt that her landing was just about perfect.

Far enough away from the cliff that Ruby or one of the weaker students wouldn't be her partner. If abandoning Ruby helped her meet new people before, why not again? It would do her good to have somebody she didn't know as her partner.

The pair of Ursa she walked into shortly after landing didn't count against it, as far as she was concerned, because running into Grimm was nothing to do with the landing. Landing in the middle of a group, that would be messing up the landing.

Yang grinned. Neither of the Ursas had a glowing badge to indicate they were students, so this would be a nice easy way to unwind from all the questions Salem brought up.

"So, which of you first?"

She dodged the lunge, placing a fist into its body, knocking the first Ursa back. "Hah, not that tough are you?"

Fighting was a liberating experience. Just you, your opponent, no need to question what was happening. No need to question someone bringing _Grimm_ into Beacon as _students_.

The Ursa made another lunge, swiping towards her head. Before she had fully dodged there was an impact, as a Beowolf, with a badge, crashed into the Ursa.

It took Yang a few moments to realise the Ursa had been about to hurt her hair.

Her new partner had prevented this.

Yang grinned. "Okay partner, lets do this."

Maybe some Grimm weren't that bad after all.

In a tree overlooking the fight a shape landed, saw the applicants partnered and fighting well, and moved on unseen.

[]

Cardin strolled confidently through the forest. He had already picked out a team, and they had planned exactly how to ensure they would be an official team.

Ozpin should really change things up properly. If you keep throwing people off a cliff into a forest sooner or later news is going to get out.

He glanced up and nodded. This was where he had agreed to meet up with Russel. He just needed to wait for the sneaky guy.

There was a slight rustling sound. Just like Russel.

Cardin turned to face him. "Good you're- wait, you're not Russel! What are..."

His new partner was a Seer. And Ozpin had indicated that the staff watched initiation.

"I don't suppose you've already found a partner?"

[]

Mere minutes later Russel Thrush staggered into the clearing.

His clothes were torn by branches and Grimm and he was out of breath.

Seeing Cardin wasn't there he staggered to a tree to rest and catch his breath.

Then he saw the mark to show that Cardin already had a partner.

"Dammit!"

[]

Pyrrha moved carefully through the forest, considering the matter of her partner.

She had wanted someone who didn't know who she was, someone strong.

The Ursa definitely fit these concepts.

She looked up at the sky. "I should have asked for something different."

The year hadn't even started yet, how had her plan gone wrong already?

"Lets just hope the rest of the team is normal."

[]

Introductions complete, Jaune now knew the names of his team, at least for now. For all he knew Ozpin was going to randomly shuffle pairs together to make the real teams. It would seem to fit, given the _Grimm attending an academy that taught people to kill Grimm_.

Suddenly sneaking in without even knowing what aura was, let alone unlocking it, didn't seem to make him the least sane person in Beacon.

"First things first," he decided, "does anyone know where the ruins are?"

There was a pause.

"You know," Nora began, "I did feel there was something missing from our instructions earlier. Huh. Any volunteers to scout for us, _Ren_?"

Ren checked his weapons, clearly intending to do as Nora suggested, but Jaune had a different idea.

He turned to his partner. "Is your wing okay? Do you think you could look for the ruins from the air?"

The Nevermore twisted its head to look at him, before testing its wings and assenting with a loud CAW. It launched into the air, circling to gain height before flying off towards the mountain.

Jaune turned to the others. "He really is the best choice for scout."

"Can either of you understand him?"

Jaune froze. He hadn't considered that.

[]

"Maybe he would fit team leader. He came up with a plan to make use of a team members unique capabilities and they listened to him. I knew accepting him was the right choice."

Oz realised miss Goodwitch had gone quiet.

"You accepted him knowing he had forged transcripts, didn't you?"

"Forged is a strong word. I can assure you that none of the transcripts I read were forged."

"You didn't read the transcripts."

Salem watched the argument with growing amusement. It did raise a certain question however. "How do my Grimm keep falling to Hunters trained here? It doesn't seem like they can be very competent."

Miss Goodwitch looked at her. "I take the combat classes."

Salem nodded. It all made sense again. "It doesn't look like many pairs are running into each other."

Oz nodded. "That is why I've spent the last few initiations trying to add another method for pairing up the pairs into teams. I forgot about the natural formation of teams with the last plan, so maybe it would have been a problem." He took a drink. "Do you have any ideas for a solution?"

"Make it a direct conflict. Allow them to form whatever teams they want and pit them against each other."

Oz took a drink. "That didn't work too well."

[]

Weiss continued stalking through the forest, followed by the irritating kid that she only barely considered her partner, and even then only because the alternative was risking being on a team with a Grimm. There was no way she was about to risk that happening.

"Do you even have any idea where we're going?"

"Yes. Away from the cliffs. There is no way the ruins we are to find are this close to the launch site. They are bound to be deep in the forest, likely with the highest density of Grimm."

"Then shouldn't we find a faster way to get there?"

"And what would you suggest?"

Ruby didn't speak, so with an exasperated sound Weiss turned, saw Ruby pointing upwards, and looked up at the Nevermore.

"You are insane."

Ruby didn't respond, and looking back down Weiss realised she was no longer there.

Briefly emotions warred within Weiss. On the one hand this could be a way to get rid of an unwanted partner and hardly her fault, on the other it would be her fault in a sense and she could end up with a Grimm.

"I'm going to regret this," she muttered as she figured out how to get up to the Nevermore. Irritating barely began to describe her partner.

[]

The screams of a girl using a Nevermore as a means of transportation caught Russels attention.

He looked up to try and see where it was coming from, and looked straight into the eyes of a black haired girl, with a bow atop said hair, crouched in a tree.

They paused.

"Uh, hey," he tried. "Partner?"

She shook her head slowly. "I just know I'm going to regret this."

**AN: I realised a bit late that starting writing while suffering a cold and not thinking straight was a bad idea. This is not helped by the wifi problems that result in me rewriting every single authors note. I am not using chibi Grimm as characters, for reasons including canon Grimm not speaking and that following through. I have a name in mind for the Beowolf but will take suggestions for other Grimms names. This was written better in the first draft that was lost due to rubbish wifi.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The group could tell that Cardin wasn't exactly happy about the situation.

"It's just Russel that didn't make it into the team," Sky tried to reassure him. "Replacing him with a Seer shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"There was also that kid, with the sword. But that isn't the point. I've been partnered with a Seer. That is the point."

They had met up at the ruins, having already found maps for the forest before getting to Beacon. There were limited possibilities for where Beacon could hold initiation and it was just luck that their goal was also the best place for the team to come together.

Cardin and Dove had grabbed the relics they needed, and as far as they could tell were the first to get their relics.

"Let's just get back to Beacon. And if Russel managed to get into a team of girls or something, like a reward for messing up the plan, he is going to regret it." Cardin glanced at his team. "If the team holds him back that punishes him enough and we can help out. But he needs the punishment."

They started back, the Seer following them silently.

[]

"I don't think this is the right way..."

Pyrrha was getting nervous as she trailed after her partner, who seemed to be ignoring her. At least they hadn't run into any other Grimm. That said, the Ursa seemed to have a specific destination in mind, one that didn't seem likely, to Pyrrha at least, to be the ruins they were meant to find.

That said, she wasn't one to abandon or give up on her partner, even if they were a Grimm. So all she could do was follow her partner and hope that they were going the right way.

A mountain loomed before them, but the Ursa didn't change from its path. Pyrrha frowned. Was that a cave ahead?

[]

Goodwitch frowned as she focused on one particular pair she was monitoring on her scroll. "Is it just me or is that Ursa heading for a specific place?"

"Would you know anything about this, Salem?"

Salem shrugged, amused. "You think I have a plan that starts this soon?" Technically it had already started, but Oz probably wouldn't consider it a plan. "There are things that Grimm are naturally attracted to. Like giant Grimm on occasion. But I haven't given any of my students special instructions."

Goodwitch frowned, tapping her riding crop against her leg thoughtfully. Something about that reminded her of something. She turned to Ozpin. "You said about a cave with Deathstalkers being here years ago," she ignored Salem snorting at the understatement – they had a story to maintain after all even if all of them knew just how old he really was, "when was it last checked?"

Ozpin drank from his mug before answering. "Last time I checked there was a single Deathstalker. I'll admit it had grown quite large, but that is why I put a warning at the entrance."

Goodwitch relaxed slightly. "A 'Keep Out' sign? That should be enough."

"Those are insufficiently informative. I painted the wall with the image of a giant Deathstalker overrunning a bunch of hunters. That should tell them everything they need."

Both of them just blinked at Ozpin. It was Salem who recovered first.

"I know that I haven't made a major attack recently, but when you say things like that it still makes me wonder how I haven't won yet."

[]

Yang was starting to get properly relaxed about her partner. At first the knowledge she could win if the Beowolf attacked, helped by the fact it had saved her hair against the Ursai, had meant she was willing to put up with it, but after fighting together against some more Grimm she had starting warming up to her partner a lot more.

Yang had expected the Beowolf to be a straightforward fighter, much like herself, but in the encounters with other Grimm so far her partner had been much more focused on flanking, making surprise attacks and making use of openings. It felt like real teamwork.

Even better he had led her straight to the ruins.

She sauntered forward and picked up one of the 'relics'. "That was easy."

It was only then she heard screaming from above.

[]

It had been decided that Jaune would mostly sit out of the teams fights, on the basis of it being his partner who they had sent scouting and so needed to follow, and Noras comment on how aura could throw you off between being unlocked and getting used to it.

Jaune had no idea if Nora had figured out his secret and this was her way of keeping it or if she really believed he was some amazing fighter who had earned his place in Beacon without aura. Either way it seemed his team was giving him the cover he needed to get through (and survive) initiation.

So far they had only run into small groups of Grimm, enough to give Jaune an idea of how his team fought. Aside from his partner, but he had already seen the Nevermore take out a group of Grimm while protecting him.

It didn't seem like the team had anyone to take hits, to be the focus of enemy attacks, and given his shield he could fit that role. At least it gave him something to focus on in training.

His partner was leading them North, hopefully the right direction. If not it seemed doubtful that they would find the ruins while there were still relics left.

Jaune heard a muffled snarl from behind the group, giving him time to get his shield between him and the Beowolf that was attacking.

He hadn't had time to draw his sword, and bracing the shield between them prevented him from changing that. Sounds from behind him caught his attention, and Jaune turned his head to see a group of Beowolves fighting Ren and Nora.

Given that Nora was much more focused on offence, and he had no idea how good her 'aura' was at protecting her, and that Ren was much more focused on skill than straight up fighting, Jaune decided that he had to deal with the Beowolf himself.

He changed his footing in order to throw the Beowolf forwards, off his shield giving him the opportunity to draw his sword and prepare to catch the next attack.

As the Grimm landed upon his shield again Jaune had the chance to use his sword, Crocea Mors, to deal some damage, even as he tried to ignore it snarling at him over the top of his shield.

Except, as he now remembered, he didn't know how to use a sword.

He tried stabbing the Beowolf around his shield, but the angle prevented him getting much force into the strike, and the blows didn't seem to do any real damage. At least the Beowolf didn't seem to have any way to harm him either, as long as he kept his footing.

All he had to do was wait for his team to deal with the other Grimm.

[]

"Interesting tactics," Ozpin mused as he sipped his coffee. "Delaying an enemy from joining the fight to let his allies finish off the others. Did he realise how dangerous a distraction can be in combat?"

Goodwitch sighed heavily. "Ozpin, you can't seriously be considering him for team leader. He has shown no signs of the combat prowess a Huntsman needs."

"Leaders don't always need to fight directly," Salem reminded them. "In fact it can be better for the leader to hang back, observing and directing rather than acting as a fighter like any other. The willingness and ability to sit back and think things through are required for a good leader."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow from over his mug. "Are you trying to sabotage the process of assigning team leaders? Making things easier for yourself in the long run?"

Salem laughed. "If I wanted to do that I would suggest a Grimm as team leader. From what I've seen so far you'd go for it."

[]

There was a cliff ahead of Blake. She paused, looking to each side to decide which way to take to get round or whether it would be easier to climb over it. It would be difficult, but by using clones as platforms she might be able to manage...

"Um, which way do you think?"

Blake remembered the problem with that course. How had she ended up with someone with so little initiative as a partner anyway? Why was this 'Russel' at Beacon in the first place?

Judging by his weapons Russel had a preference for fighting sneakily like her, but with no sign of any ranged option. If it came to a fight it would be best for Russel to take the front line while she stayed at a distance using Gambol Shrouds pistol to help her partner.

"That way," she decided, and let Russel take the lead before ascending part of the cliff and following him. The height advantage could come in handy should they run into Grimm. Plus she wasn't about to trust a complete stranger as her partner just yet. Not given her last partner...

[]

Pyrrha wondered why exactly her partner was so keen on exploring the cave.

"I really don't think this is the right way. Can't we go back yet?"

The Ursa ignored her, leading the way further into the darkness. Wait, there was a light ahead. Could this have been a tunnel? But it didn't look quite right...

"This doesn't look..."

She realised what the light was coming from in time to grab her partner and get it out of the way of the Deathstalkers sting.

The Ursa growled, at her or its fellow Grimm Pyrrha couldn't be sure. "I think we'd best run. Come on!"

They fled the cave, the Ursa directly behind her. What was going on? Why was the Grimm attacking her partner?

This just didn't make sense!

[]

Russel frowned. "Did you hear that," he asked his partner. Except, she wasn't behind him. Where was-

"Sounded like a scream," she agreed from her position on the cliff behind him. Oh. Made sense, good place to attack an enemy from, if you could manage it. "I think we should check it out."

"Whatever you say."

Despite himself Russel grinned. It was good having someone to take charge.

**AN: **I hadn't intended to take so long between chapters, but when you only have 2 days in a week to do any writing (damn work getting in the way) delays can happen. Combine that with interruptions to break the flow of writing further, and the chapter comes out half-length and without a proper title. In any case, I want to take this opportunity to state that I have chosen the Grimm for each team, and who they partner with/replace, for reasons. Part of it was giving 1 Grimm per team. Which meant I had to remove someone from team JNPR, and given that I didn't want to split Nora and Ren that meant I needed to completely mess up the teams (which I felt could wait for a later story rather than my first attempt at fanfiction) or give Jaune another way to survive, hence Nevermore. Other reasons will be pointed out as they happen.


	5. Chapter 5: End of Grimmnitiation

**End of Grimmnitiation**

Pyrrha burst out of the cave, followed closely by the Ursa. Unfortunately her flight from the Grimm was interrupted by running into one of the other students, nearly bringing them both to the ground. Instead she somehow managed to grab their hand and pull them along behind her.

Before there was a chance for either of them to speak, to give an explanation or ask for one, the Deathstalker burst from the cave, showering the ground behind them with rubble.

It was at this point Pyrrha stopped needing to drag the other student with her, him, as she now realised he was a boy, starting to run alongside her and her partner, the Ursa.

Another girl joined them, presumably the boys partner, and Pyrrha let his hand go, not quite blushing but feeling close. With her lack of social experience she couldn't be entirely sure how it had looked to the guys partner.

"Do you have any plans to deal with that," the girl called to Pyrrha. "I don't give good odds to anyone it takes by surprise."

"I had hoped the cave could contain it. I haven't got much experience with fighting Grimm like that." Spending time on the tournament circuit had given her a focus on human and faunus opponents instead.

"I doubt either of us," she gestured to her partner, "have weapons capable of damaging its armour."

"Then should we attack from beneath? No, it could crush you, even if you got past its claws. Um, perhaps we should take out its eyes?"

[]

"Curious," Ozpin commented. "From her experience I'd expected Pyrrha to be a lot more confident and better at planning an attack. As it is the pairs there may not form a team at all."

"I knew your 'Deathstalker solution' wouldn't work. I'm heading in."

Ozpin held up a hand. "Not yet. There's still one of them who hasn't tried to take control. It's only fair to let each member of the team have a chance to prove themselves capable of being the leader. And so often it has been proven that the quiet ones make the best leaders when they step up." He drank more of his coffee. "Besides, if we let the 'invincible girl' get kicked out during initiation Mistral would suspect sabotage unless we can demonstrate that we gave her a fair chance."

"So you risk her life for the sake of politics. What a wondrous civilisation humanity has wrought."

"You could help her survive instead of just insulting us."

"But it would hardly be fair for me to order Grimm not to kill someone unless I did it for everyone, in which case what sort of test would initiation be?"

"Not quite how I would have put it. Rather, as long as no applicants cause problems for each other they should all be able to survive. The appearance of danger serves to demonstrate to those that fail that they should choose a different career."

Somehow professor Goodwitch suspected that Ozpin had made this all up on the spot.

[]

The Deathstalker had chased them to a clearing and had now paused, giving them a chance to surround it.

Not that they had any hope of dealing it any damage. Against something with such armour, natural or otherwise, you really needed heavier, blunt weapons instead. Piercing weapons were only capable of inflicting damage if they were able to pierce after all, while blunt weapons worked just as well through armour even without the weapon penetrating.

The Ursa seemed to sniff the air before to starting to run in a seemingly arbitrary direction. There was a pause before the Ursa's partner followed, pursued by the Deathstalker.

Blake blinked. This was unexpected. Belatedly she realised that the back of the Deathstalkers tail was unarmoured, creating an opening for her to remove its strongest weapon.

If she could catch up with it.

"Come on," she called to her partner, and started to chase after the Deathstalker. She could only hope the other students weren't in such a stupid situation.

[]

Ruby hadn't worried about planning a way to the ground when the Giant Nevermore passed over the ruins. After all, how different was it from the way they were launched at the start of initiation?

It was only after she'd jumped that she realised Crescent Rose didn't have as much ammunition as she needed to land safely.

Her scream was an automatic response to hearing the click her baby made when empty while falling towards the ground. It only lasted until she thought to reload. With recoil to slow herself down again her scream promptly stopped. She gulped as she controlled her descent. She had been a bit too careless there.

Her partner had jumped after her, using weird glyphs to slow herself down. It was pretty cool how versatile those glyphs could be. Aside from her attitude her partner was awesome.

They reached the ground safely. "Nailed it!"

"Interesting landing sis," came a voice from nearby. Ruby spun and saw her sister, leaning against one of the pillars, throwing and catching what must have been one of the relics they were supposed to be collecting. Next to her was a-

"Beowolf!" Ruby readied Crescent Rose, preparing to attack.

"Hold on," Yang protested, getting between Ruby and the Beowolf. "That's my partner."

Ruby paused. It wasn't attacking and it did have one of those badges...

"Eheheh," she laughed nervously, holstering Crescent Rose again. Now that she thought about it there was no chance of the Grimm being an enemy. After all there was no-one else here and Yang wouldn't be collecting a relic without a partner, not to mention the chances of her being so calm around a Grimm under normal circumstances. "Whoops."

Yang shrugged. "Eh, your response is better than mine would have been if I found that your partner was a Grimm. I mean you stopped before you could get expelled after all. I guess this is your partner..." Yang trailed off, recognising the girl who had confronted her sister the day before. "Well, you didn't get a Grimm. Not that they are all bad," she hastily added, glancing at her partner, who didn't seem too concerned, "but a partner is an instant friend, right?"

"Me? Friends with her?" Weiss protested. "Even if I had friends she wouldn't be one. The only reason I accepted a menace like your sister is that even she would be better than a Grimm." She ignored the warning growl from Yangs partner. "What sort of person decides to hitch a ride on a Nevermore anyway?"

Yang glanced up and winced. "Yeah, about that... I don't think you thought the plan all the through sis."

"What do you mean?" Ruby bounced over with one of the relics clutched in her hand. "We got here okay, and with relics still available."

"Yeah, but you seem to have pissed of the Grimm."

Yangs warning gave them time to see the Nevermore turning to attack and scatter before its feather barrage could hit. The Beowolf whined as it dodged its share of feathers, sounding confused about the Grimm trying to injure it.

"I knew using the Nevermore to get here was a bad idea!"

"Hey, blaming my sister doesn't do any good. We should be focused on taking it down instead."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Much as she wanted to deny it Ruby had to admit Weiss had a point. She was about the only one there with any meaningful ranged capability. Her sister was all about hitting things and Weiss basically just had a sword. Meanwhile their foe was flying and could just stay out of reach. After all a sniper rifle was hardly a suitable weapon for a fast moving flyer. Even if the Nevermore wasn't moving all that fast at the moment, it still bobbed slightly in the air.

"Distract it," she called, "give me an opening."

"On it," came Yangs response. "Hey birdy, watch me." She readied Ember Celica and threw a series of shotgun blasts at the Grimm, being close enough to irritate it even if she was too far away to do any real damage.

The Nevermore turned in the air, and Ruby took her shot, blasting a series of shots into its wing, destabilising it even if they weren't enough to do any real damage.

The shots caught the Nevermore right as it was about to fire its feathers again, a distraction that upset its balance, bringing it to the ground.

"Weiss, ice," Ruby called to her partner, too rushed for a full sentence as she prepared to finish the Grimm off before it could take flight once more. "Yang, head." Commands given she prepared for her own part, charging one wing with both Crescent Roses scythe and her semblances speed, even as the other wing was buried in ice and frozen to the ground. Seconds later Yang and her partner joined the assault, her punching more shotgun blasts directly into its mouth even as the Beowolf launched itself at the Nevermores eyes.

"This isn't working," Weiss complained at Ruby, showing the strain of keeping the Nevermore frozen to the ground.

Ruby was forced to agree. For all the work she'd put into Crescent Rose she was still unable to do more than cut into the wing rather than remove it completely as she'd intended. Even more than that however, after her speed had worn off she had been unable to do any damage.

"What do you suggest," Yang demanded. "If we stop it'll just take flight again. And I doubt it'll fall for the same trick twice."

Ruby pulled Crescent Rose free and glanced over at the head, to see a disappointing lack of damage. That wasn't good. Her plan had been to keep it grounded and for them to wear it down while it was unable to escape. Of course, that wasn't going to work if they couldn't do any damage in the first place.

"New plan, Weiss, can you boost my speed?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Not without dropping the ice."

"That's fine. We needed a new solution anyway."

Weiss nodded, spinning Myrtenaster as she dropped the glyph beneath the ice and placed a new, different one beneath Rubys feet. "Your target?"

"The neck," she responded, dropping into a ready stance as her partner placed further glyphs on the direct path. "Yang, get back."

Yang grabbed her partner, firing one last shot into the Nevermore to keep it stunned and retreat at the same time, getting out of the way as Ruby launched herself at greater than full speed, catching the Grimms neck with Crescent Roses scythe. There was a moment of resistance before the Nevermores neck started to give way, and Crescent Rose cut deep.

Once again there was too much resistance to sever the body-part from the Grimms torso completely, but it didn't matter this time, the Grimm already starting to fade to nothing before she could retrieve Crescent Rose.

She returned her baby to its holster, and turned to face the others. "Well, that went well."

"You have to be joking."

[]

"It seems we have been very fortunate with some of the applicants this year," Oz commented.

"Yes, I seem to recall that you were supposed to deal with the giant Nevermore. Now can we focus on the Deathstalker situation?"

"You do recall my semblance? I'm sure I explained how it works."

"Being able to mess with time doesn't mean you should."

"In any case we should have the new team RWBY collected. It wouldn't do to lose such a promising group so soon after it formed. Huh, that's interesting."

Back with the team dealing with the Deathstalker things were getting interesting.

[]

Pyrrha didn't think she'd ever understand quite how her partner had managed it, but the Deathstalker was pinned under a number of trees, probably not for long admittedly, in such a way that its underside was exposed and vulnerable to attack.

That didn't mean it was defenceless however, the sting was still able to flail about, capable of inflicting damage if they were careless.

There was the sound of rushing feet, which slowed to a halt as the other pair saw what had happened. "How..?"

The Deathstalker lurched again, but failed to free itself.

The Ursa growled, drawing Pyrrhas attention. Her eyes widened as she caught what it was trying to indicate to her.

"We need to move," she reminded the others, shifting Miló into sword mode as she prepared to strike at the tail, severing the stinger.

The others caught her meaning, and launched their own attacks at the Grimms unprotected underside.

[]

"I do believe we have the seen the member of that group most suited to the leadership role," Oz commented. "One who managed tactical thinking, luring the foe into a trap and giving the team an opening." He took a drink from his mug.

Salem burst into laughter. "Shouldn't I be the one to suggest a Grimm as team leader? Still, that proves my point about you accepting the suggestion."

[]

"You'd have thought there'd be more Grimm around," Ren commented as they followed the Nevermore into the ruins. "I'm not complaining, but it feels odd."

"We already fought a number getting here," Jaune reminded him, panting slightly. He wasn't used to so much exercise. "And we're clearly not the first here. Maybe they cleared out the Grimm nearby."

He shrugged. It didn't really matter anyway. They grabbed their couple of relics, turning at the sound of footsteps as another team made it to the ruins, two girls a guy and an Ursa.

It seemed that initiation had come to an end.

**AN: Apologies for the delay in releasing this chapter. It started with a powercut, then a few more minutes later. Each time OpnOffice took 2 tries to open. Until I gave up on writing for the day, which allowed me to break the flow of writing. Then I had someone working from home, due to illness, next to my computer which didn't exactly encourage me to write. And then when I finally had noone working next to me, no powercuts and OpenOffice working a cat stole my chair. Hopefully I won't have so many problems with later chapters.**

**This chapter marks the end of initiation and so my attempts to write things happening at about the same time. Given how badly I messed up the timing, and the lack of Ozpin canon semblance, I chose to give him a time manipulation ability to justify the segments. This will only be used in service of comedy.**

**The first reason for the Beowolf is also revealed; there is still team RWBY! And on a related note, those concerned about Pyrrha becoming leader need worry no more. The Ursa is team leader, as I planned from the start.**

**Omake:**

"Actually, I just remembered that Ursas name."

[]

"Pyrrha Nikos, Blake Belladonna, Russel Thrush and the Ursa form team SNBR or Sinopia. And Stevie will be in charge."


	6. Chapter 6: Twelve Huntsmen

Twelve Huntsmen (and Huntresses)

"Cardin Winchester, Sky Lark, Dove Bronzewing and their Seer come to the stage."

The ceremony was taking place immediately after initiation, with all the applicants who made it to the forest in attendance. Ozpin, Goodwitch and Salem were stood upon a stage calling up the successful students to form the teams.

Blake didn't think much of the group Ozpin had just called up, even allowing for the Grimm. The three Huntsmen in training each wore armour and had high strength, low skill weapons. Useful enough against slower enemies but all but useless against the faster Grimm or Hunters.

Next to her, her partner seemed unusually focused on the team. She sighed. It had been clear that he wanted to be part of a particular team. This was likely that team.

"Led by Cardin Winchester, they shall be team WLDS, or Wilds." There was a smattering of polite applause. It didn't seem that anyone had a good opinion of the members of the team except themselves and Russel, who was more concerned about not making it into the team.

Ozpin waited until team WLDS left the stage. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao-Long and their Beowolf, please come to the stage."

Blake could only imagine what it would be like, stuck on a team with two people who got on quite as badly as Ruby and the Schnee. She wondered why Ozpin had put them together.

"Led by Ruby Rose they shall be team RWBY." The applause was again mostly polite, but with a few people clapping more energetically. Including the boy who had come up to her while she was reading the night before. At least there was a possible friend for them outside their team.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie and their Nevermore please come to the stage."

Twice could be a coincidence, three times was less likely. It seemed they were down to just teams with Grimm. A lot of the students must have failed then.

"Led by Jaune Arc, they will be team ANVL, or Anvil." The applause was again polite except for Ruby who seemed excited by this Jaune making it through, and as a fellow team leader no less.

"Will Blake Belladonna, Pyrrha Nikos, Russel Thrush and their Ursa please come to the stage." There was a certain murmuring through the crowd as the names were called out. Most likely at Pyrrha Nikos, unless there were other faunus from Menagerie in the room. That said, it didn't explain why her partner seemed tense as they walked to the stage.

"Led by the Ursa."

Ozpin took a drink as the crowd started whispering between themselves. It was only when miss Goodwitch swung her riding crop with its distinctive sound that they quietened down. Not that Blake could blame them. How could a Grimm be team leader? Unless it had simply chosen not to speak so far...

"They will be team URBN, or Urban."

[]

The first warning Weiss had was the whistle.

"Okay team, time to get unpacked and set up!"

"It's too late, we should just get some sleep."

"I've checked the schedule and lessons start at 9. If we don't unpack now we won't have a chance tomorrow. So lets get to it!"

"Yeah!"

Much to Weiss's frustration her team leaders sister and the Grimm seemed to agree with the plan. "Are you serious? We've barely got back from being fired into the forest. Surely we can get some sleep first?"

"And leave our clothes and pyjamas in our bags? We'll be getting them out anyway, so why not deal with everything at the same time?"

It frustrated Weiss more than she would ever admit how hard it was to argue with Ruby. "Fine. Just make sure the Grimm doesn't mess things up."

[]

"So, anyone have any suggestions about dealing with this problem?"

"You know, I somehow suspect that Beacon wasn't built with Nevermore in mind."

"Not helping Nora."

Team ANVL was having certain problems with fitting their Grimm teammate in their room. For some, not entirely obvious, reason the corridors were all large enough for Grimm like the Nevermore while the doors for the individual rooms were much too small.

"The windows are too small," came Rens contribution. "I doubt the staff would appreciate us altering the architecture enough for our teammate."

Jaune sighed. "Sorry partner. I guess we'll need to find somewhere else for you to sleep. Hey Ren, could you unpack for me while I find a good place."

"Already done," Ren replied. "Good luck."

He waited until Jaune had left with the Nevermore. "I think we need to talk about our leader."

"What do you mean?"

"I just think it might be useful to do some extra training with him. Before the official combat classes."

"Yeah, definitely!"

It was still hard for Ren to decide whether Nora really believed in the reputation she had dreamt up for their leader.

"And then we question Salem!"

Ren nodded. "It would be best to have our leader trained in case she is responsible."

[]

Things were not going smoothly for team URBN. This may have had a lot do with their team leader being a Grimm.

Blake had no idea how that had managed to happen. Granted her partner didn't seem to be proactive enough to be a team leader and the championship fighter had seemed too uncertain when they had to deal with the Deathstalker, not to forget that she wasn't entirely comfortable around people she wasn't used to and had no experience with leadership...

Okay, maybe none of the team were obvious candidates, but surely it would be better to give one of them experience?

At least there were shelves she could use for her books, even if she couldn't communicate with her team leader properly. She'd just assumed it was fine to unpack, as after all she always found a book a good way to deal with whatever insanity was going on around her.

It took her a moment to realise the book was from her other stash. She glanced at her teammates quickly, making sure they hadn't seen it, or would see her hiding it.

"I'm... heading out," Pyrrha told them. "I need to clear my head."

Blake couldn't blame her. It was somewhat awkward in the room, with no member of the team being particularly talkative.

It all made Blake wonder if the team could function.

[]

"I think having a Grimm for team leader qualifies as sufficient punishment."

"That just cancels out having the Nikos girl as a teammate. We'll have to keep an eye on them to see if Russel is having too good a time without us."

Team WLDS had unpacked and organised themselves very quickly, under Cardins direction. Sky and Dove were good like that, following his plans and orders.

The only issue was the Seer, but it seemed willing to float out of the way, following what directions he gave it. Sure, it looked somewhat creepy, but that could benefit the team, as they would become a lot more used to it than their opponents.

"Anyone know where his teams room is?" At his teammates reluctantly shaking heads Cardin sighed. "Then start looking. We'll need to keep an eye on him no matter what."

[]

Team RWBY stepped back to view their room.

"It looks... cluttered," Yang commented.

"It's a mess! And how are we supposed to use the beds like that?" Weiss did have a point.

"Hey, it wasn't me that left them like that!" It almost impressed Yang the way her sister had failed to notice what she had done with the beds until now. "But I don't think there's space for the beds with everything else. Besides, we don't need all the beds."

It was too good an opportunity to miss. "What, you're planning on sleeping with me? Or is there something I should know about you two?"

"Yang!" Ruby recovered much faster than her partner.

"Kidding, I get what you meant. My partner... you know we really should give him a name."

Ruby shrugged. "It's your turn I guess."

Yang grinned. "Okay partner, your name is now 'Drei', okay?" The Beowolf barked, in a manner they took as agreement.

Ruby shook her head. "Really Yang? Not a proper name, like 'Marty'?"

Yang shrugged. "A tradition is a tradition. But anyway, does getting rid of one bed do much for the lack of space. If we could cut it down to two beds though..."

"Do either of you have a reasonable solution?" Weiss seemed close to breaking point. "And it better not be getting rid of any of my things. I made sure to bring the bare essentials."

"A bunk bed!"

"Wh-what?"

"We turn two of the beds into a bunk bed! It's the perfect solution!"

"No it isn't. How do you propose to create a bunk bed? These beds aren't made for it!"

It was up to Yang to provide the voice of reason. "We'll need to speak with someone about removing one of the beds anyway. Why not get rid of three and get a bunkbed at the same time? It's perfect!"

"It's too late to go to the faculty. We need a solution now. There are classes in the morning, we should already be asleep!"

"Why not use the fourth bed for materials? That way we could build a proper bunkbed. We could even use the sheets for curtains!"

Weiss sighed. "I suppose the only way I'll get enough sleep is if I go along with this insanity."

"That's the spirit!"

[]

"I guess you could sleep on the rooftop. It's that or fly to somewhere else for the night."

Jaune hadn't had a lot of luck finding somewhere for his partner to sleep. In the end they had found themselves on the rooftop. It had crossed Jaunes mind that the door was rather larger than it needed to be.

"I knew there'd be a way up... oh, I'm sorry!"

Jaune turned, startled. It was another of the first years, Pyrrha he thought her name was.

"It's alright," he assured her, "my partner," he indicated the Nevermore (who was tucking its head under its wing in an approximation of a sleeping bird), "wouldn't fit in the room so I had to find somewhere else for it to sleep. It's not like it's my roof or anything."

"Ah, I felt the need for some time to myself. My team," she sighed, "we aren't really much of a team. I mean, you were there when they made the Ursa team leader. I guess that says all need be said about it. None of the rest of us are able to be leader, we don't seem able to communicate. This isn't what I expected from Beacon."

"I don't know how to be leader. I never expected to be made leader, the others would be better choices."

"I'm sure that's not the case, Ozpin must have some reason..." she trailed off, remembering her own team leader.

"I should return to my team."

"Maybe we can talk again later."

Jaune shrugged. "As long as we remain in Beacon. I mean, surely it'd be a good thing to have our teams on good terms."

She smiled, hesitantly. "I'd like that."

[]

Russel sat on one of the beds. He wasn't used to the uncertainty of not being told what to do.

He wasn't even sure if he should take the bed. If he had been on Cardins team, as they had planned, he would've had one assigned. With a team leader who didn't speak, however, it was much more unclear as to what to do.

He couldn't even rely on his partner for direction. She had unpacked her books, hiding one of them, and sat on a bed reading. It didn't seem like she was interested in talking, or giving him directions.

There was a knock at the door. He glanced at his team. Their leader was laying on the floor, apparently sleeping, while his partner seemed determined to ignore it, even if her bow twitched for some reason.

He got up and answered the door.

It was Sky.

"Cardin wanted to know where you are," he explained, and drew out his scroll.

"He could have called me," Russel realised.

"After you failed to call him?" Sky cut off as his scroll connected to Cardins.

It hadn't occurred to Russel to contact Cardin. He was used to Cardin calling him when he needed to. They had known each other almost their entire lives and he, like Sky and Dove, naturally deferred to Cardin, in the same manner as their families always had.

It didn't upset them, being natural followers. After all, in life there were always more followers than leaders. There was nothing wrong with it.

"He's coming to check on you," Sky informed him, finished with the call. "He wanted to be sure you were okay. But also that you were punished for ending up on a different team."

Russel nodded. He hadn't reached the rendezvous before Cardin had found a different partner. If he had been faster they could have had the team Cardin had planned.

"How is your team?"

Russel sighed. "It would be better if the plan had worked. This team doesn't seem to work."

"Cheer up. If that's the case Cardin probably won't have to do anything."

[]

"I have some concerns, headmaster."

"About what, Glynda?"

"Some of the Grimm students may not fit in the dorm rooms. I confess I only realised after we assigned rooms, but it could be a problem."

"It simply gives the students a chance to practise problem solving. We can't be expected to do everything for them."

"I do not think having Grimm wander the halls at night is a good thing. Even if the older years know about our new students."

There was a pause as Ozpin tried not to look as though he was using his drink to avoid responding.

Glynda sighed. "Ozpin..."

"What opportunity have I had to address our returning students? It was only today that I learned about the Grimm myself. Since then we had initiation and dealt with organising the new teams. There won't be any problems tonight."

[]

It had been a while since Velvet had the chance to take pictures of the emerald forest from Beacon.

It was almost a tradition for her now, recording the start of each new term.

Coco had them all busy unpacking for the new year at Beacon, so it was only now, gone night, that she had the opportunity to sneak out to the rooftop and take the picture for a memento of the moment.

It was the first time she found a Nevermore perched on the roof.

Her yelp of shock seemed to startle it, making the Grimm shake its wings out and turn to look at her.

As Velvet fumbled for her camera/projector, having fallen onto her back, she knew she would be unable to protect herself before the Nevermore could strike.

Except... it didn't.

It fluffed its wings as though indignant at having its rest disturbed and tucked its head back under a wing, apparently unconcerned at having a Huntress on the same rooftop.

Velvet carefully stood back up. It seemed likely that her team would want to hear about this, but chances are they wouldn't believe her. Unless...

Velvet snapped a couple of pictures, capturing the image of the Nevermore before the emerald forest.

They would have to believe.

[]

When Pyrrha returned to her teams room she was startled at the presence of another team, or rather three quarters of the team, standing outside with her teammate, Russel.

It looked like he was being told off.

"You mean you haven't even claimed a bed or unpacked? Why not?"

"Uh, excuse me?"

For all her experience in fighting tournaments Pyrrha had never really enjoyed being the centre of attention.

In the ring she didn't even notice, it was just her and her opponent.

But right now, involving herself in the conversation with people she barely knew at best, things were different.

"What? Oh, you're one of this idiots teammates aren't you?"

It was Cardin, the boy with a mace.

"I wouldn't call him-"

"What other word is there for someone who doesn't sort themselves out when they get assigned a dorm room? I knew I'd have to take of these guys, but I didn't realise it'd be this bad."

"I don't think any of us have unpacked..."

"Why not? Do you really need to be told to get your things organised in your own room?"

Pyrrha hesitated. When he put it like that...

"Leaving things in a mess is what I'd expect from those beasts," he continued, "not humans. Damnit, I can't look after him how he clearly needs, so I'll just have to trust you and the other one to take care of him. But if Russel comes to harm when you could prevent it, you'll have to deal with my team. Come on you two."

The human members of team WLDS left, heading for their own dorm.

Pyrrha watched them go. What had Cardin meant by beasts? Surely not faunus?

"Are you okay?" Her teammate nodded. "Do you know them?"

"My friends, we came to Beacon together. The plan was to be on the same team."

Pyrrha sighed. "I don't think you really get the concept of friendship." Not that she had any real experience herself. Not yet at any rate. That was one of her reasons for coming to Beacon in the first place. To make real friends, not just meet people trying to befriend 'the invincible girl'. "It sounds like we both need to unpack. You can tell me about them while we do."

**AN: Due to events outside my control I must place this story on hiatus for the next couple of months. It will resume in May. This has nothing to do with the delays for this chapter, which was because of getting a new laptop and so having the opportunity to play pc games again, like Star Wars" Rebellion, Jade Empire and RWBY: Grimm Eclipse.**

**As for the chapter, behold the name of the Beowolf. Referring to a tradition where, presumably, Raven named the first, Summer the second and now Yang the third. It should also be apparent that I am working on giving team CRDL from Cardin more character and backstory, all with a particular plan in mind.**


	7. Chapter 7: Grimm Lessons

Grimm Lessons

It was the first day of classes, but Ruby tried not to let the prospect bring her down.

Getting their things unpacked the previous night meant they had plenty of time to get up, proof that she made the right decision!

So what if her partner had complained, they had time to sleep in before class. Not that she could, she was too excited by the thoughts of her first lesson in Beacon, what with it being Grimm studies. How could things be any better! Would they have the "queen of the Grimm" sharing the knowledge that earned her that title?

There were more boring lessons later, like the plant sciences class or the stealth lessons.

Pfft, what did she need with stealth? She could snipe Grimm too far away for them to respond, not to forget how quickly she could close with them. Or run away if she needed to. Stealth classes were unnecessary.

The timetable had been sent to her scroll overnight, alongside other information about the academy, including a map, which would have been so useful when she arrived and was separated from the other students.

There had also been an announcement, sent to her scroll, about an assembly for second years and above, but that was nothing to worry about. Probably just normal school stuff.

She checked her scroll. Eh, close enough to time.

Weiss had confiscated her whistle, which would have been the best way to wake everyone up for lessons, but Ruby had figured out a solution.

"Wake up, teammate," she whispered, stroking Dreis head. "I need you to help wake the team."

It had surprised her, when she brushed past her teammate last night, just how much Drei felt like a normal dog, like Zwei. If it wasn't for the bone spikes she could almost forget that this was, in fact, a Grimm.

Drei growled, but it didn't seem to Ruby that it was meant threateningly, more the Grimm equivalent of grumbling about having to wake up. One eye opened, staring at her.

"We just need a loud noise to get everyone awake..."

[]

"...therefore any Grimm you encounter within Beacon that possesses one of these badges is a fellow student and not an enemy," Ozpin concluded, standing before the students. In hindsight, he should have called an emergency assembly earlier. Having checked the security footage he had realised that several of his Grimm students had been outside their rooms overnight, as well as the occasional upper year student.

"And what happens if we delay when the Grimm doesn't have a badge?"

"If the situation is potentially dangerous we will understand you attacking before being certain about whether the Grimm is a student or not. Of course, that is only because these Grimm have their own version of aura, which will make it quite clear if they are friend or foe once struck. In any case, the current list of Grimm students..."

Velvet listened, slightly distracted, as the headmaster continued. He sounded different from last year, less focused or coherent.

She fiddled with her camera/projector. It had started acting weirdly since she woke up, and she hadn't wanted to leave it unattended until she knew what was going on with it. It was a good thing she wasn't in the habit of using her weapon in spars...

[]

It wasn't just team RWBY that was glaring at Ruby when they found seats in the Grimm studies classroom.

Apparently the walls weren't sufficiently soundproofed for a Beowolfs howl, and the way that the team with said Beowolf were glaring at their leader made it quite clear who to blame. This was not how Weiss imagined the leader of her team would be treated, even in the few imaginings she had where she was not leader. When she thought of following another it was always someone who had earned the role.

Surely they should have been able to tell she was more suitable as a leader?

That said, Weiss wondered whose idea it was to have the first lesson for the teams with Grimm to be in a room with fake Grimm trophies lining the walls, if it was the same person who assigned team leaders. Were they trying to upset the real Grimm?

Weiss was pretty sure nobody noticed her lay a comforting hand on Dreis side. It wasn't entirely his fault, the way he woke them up that morning. It was much more reasonable to blame their team leader instead. In any case, Drei was a teammate and clearly unhappy. It was her duty to help. And not because Drei made her think of the pet she had never been allowed back home.

Maybe this was the only room available for the class. After all it only made sense to teach the Grimms teammates what they needed to know about the Grimm on the team, what Beacon knew of their habits and desires.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! The creatures of Grimm have many names!"

This introduction was all Weiss needed to realise that she was going to learn nothing from this professor.

"Now including teammate," heckled one of the other first years, not one Weiss could recognise, bringing the portly man to a halt, as he apparently noticed the Grimm sitting at desks for the first time.

Weiss sighed and rested her head against the desk. "I should have stayed in Atlas."

Someone else sighed from the door. "I see Oz was right about needing me to check on the lesson."

It was Salem.

She walked down the steps to where the professor stood before the podium.

"Port, I know you were there when Oz explained about needing to change the lecture on the basis of our Grimm students."

"Ah, yes. I remember the headmasters wise words. I found the perfect story but it simply slipped my mind. It was when I was in my prime, my team having fallen behind, that I disguised myself as -"

"I begin to doubt your qualifications for this subject. Fine, 'professor' Port, I relieve you of this lecture."

"My good woman!"

Weiss felt that even her sister would have been proud of the look Salem gave him. For all the Huntsmans bluster he was reduced to silence instantly.

"F-fine. I will return to Fort Port. I have other things to do than give lectures."

The man marched stiffly out of the classroom.

It was only after he'd left that Salem started speaking again.

"It is common knowledge that Grimm are attracted to human negativity," she began, "but I doubt that you are aware of why. Grimm do not need to eat, instead they live off the negativity people give off, or more accurately the aura that contains such emotions. This is why they don't go after animals, unless said animal had its aura unlocked."

"Then why do they target civilians?"

Salem snorted. "Do you truly believe that aura doesn't exist until it is awakened? Of course the Grimm here are different. I won't go into details, you wouldn't understand anyway. Just know that they still do not need to eat but rather need proximity to living things, preferably those with unlocked aura. Of course, that won't be where the health risk comes from."

There was a shocked silence from the students, broken only when one of the students, who Weiss was unable to tell apart from the others, found the nerve to ask "what health risks?"

"Well, you are going to be sparring with them," Salem smirked. "The fact you'll be facing my Grimm doesn't reduce the chance of injury. Nor increase them," she added as an afterthought. "Their health risks are likely slightly lower than yours, given their 'aura'," her expression betrayed her amusement at some private joke. "Let me explain the other differences..."

[]

Salem maintained her façade of caring, unbiased teacher through to the end of the lecture, never letting slip the rage that built within her at the mere thought of the one she had taken over from.

It helped that she had practised controlling her emotions, the cost from the previous times she had lost control being so high.

At least none of her Grimm had been obviously mistreated, even if they were clearly disturbed by the rooms decorations. And she had even noticed a few students trying to help their teammates deal with the fake Grimm heads. Clearly not all these humans were as she remembered their kind.

One of them had delayed leaving, long enough now that Salem was no longer able to ignore her. She sighed. "Do you have a reason for staying behind?"

"It's just... do you know how team leaders were chosen?"

Salem thought back to initiation, trying to place the girl. She was the one who had some political importance, right? Whose team leader had skipped a couple of years? She shrugged mentally. It had been years since she had to learn to recognise anyone new, and it wouldn't really matter if she got them confused now and then.

"It was whoever came up with tactics that the team followed," she responded. "Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"There were a few teams where that wasn't enough to decide upon the leader. In those cases Oz went for whoever made the better team name. Now you'd better hurry or you'll be late for class."

Salem froze. "Um, sorry, but I've got to get to class as well. Upper years have different rooms for Grimm Studies."

She broke past the stunned girl, trying to remember the timetable the deputy had given her. She couldn't give Oz an excuse to fire her!

[]

At this time Ozpin was busy speaking with Ruby.

She wondered, if only for a second or two, whether the meeting was more than just a coincidence. He had brought her into Beacon early after all, he might have wanted to make sure she wasn't having any problems from skipping a couple of years or the encounter with a criminal that had allowed it.

"How are things with your team?"

Ruby scowled. She wasn't so blind to fail to realise Weiss thought she should be leader instead. And Yang might act like she had no problems following her lead, but Yang was the older sister. The only one she didn't think had a problem with her was Drei, and he was basically just a giant version of Zwei.

"It's just... are you sure you made the right decision?"

"Which one?"

"Making me leader. I'm pretty sure I made everyone mad at me already."

Ozpin took a drink from the mug he seemed to always have in hand. "Everybody makes mistakes. The only mistake you must avoid is to not learn from them. I've heard about what happened." Ruby winced. "You're not in trouble, after all you won't make the same mistake again. And in any case, things with your team aren't as bad as they were on your parents team. And they ended up one of the most famous teams out of Beacon. Give yourself the same chance to be a leader as your team is giving you."

[]

The cafeteria was packed when team RWBY made it to lunch.

Ruby hadn't wanted to eat without her team, well aware that meals could provide a perfect opportunity to apologise and start to make up for her earlier mistakes. Of course this had meant tracking down Weiss and Yang. Drei had been easy, the way he seemed to stick with a teammate at all times.

"I still say you should have let one of us come first and save us a table," Weiss complained.

"Nah, Ruby made the right choice. After all, the tables are too big to just seat a single team. Besides, don't you want to get to know the other students?"

Ruby shivered slightly. She had been hoping to get away without socialising beyond her and her sisters teams, but apparently that wasn't likely to be an option. She looked around quickly for anyone she recognised (not that there was likely to be anyone) at a table that they could fit at.

To her surprise she did spot someone. The black-haired girl from before initiation. Wasn't she on team URBN or something?

Okay, she didn't actually know the girls name, but the only people other than her team she knew the names of where the teachers and Jaune, and his team was sat at a full table. For team RWBY to sit with them they'd have to ask the others to move, and no way was that happening.

"Over there," she called to her team, "there's space at that table."

Not hearing any complaints she zoomed over to grab a seat, claiming her teams place before anyone else could get in the way.

The girl looked up from the book she was reading. For a moment Ruby wondered why anyone would eat around the book they were reading rather than just put it down, but decided not to worry about it. All the Huntsman or Huntress graduates she'd ever met had their own eccentricities after all.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting lunch," she responded cheerily. "There was space at the table for my team and we've met before. However briefly."

The girl sighed and looked round the room, possibly trying to spot somewhere else they could sit. "I guess I can't really complain. There isn't anywhere else. Just... don't be too noisy."

She glanced at the rest of the girls team, waiting for her team to show up. They were certainly quiet.

"Is there a reason your team isn't speaking?"

"Aside half the team being disappointed and me reading? Our team leader doesn't seem able to speak."

"That's no reason to give up on your team," Ruby responded, indignant. "Your team is too important for your time here, if not beyond, to give up before even giving it a chance."

"Well said sis," her team had caught up with her and apparently overheard at least some of what had been said. "Besides, so what if your leader doesn't speak, you don't rely on your leader to make all your decisions for you."

"Although you do need to be able to trust your leader to do what they can for the team."

One of the other members of the Ursas team, the red-haired girl, hesitated. "He did find a way for us to take down that Deathstalker..."

Weiss facepalmed heavily. "Don't tell me Ozpin just chooses team leaders for combat situations. I mean, sure we should not need someone to tell us what to do in day to day situations... why did I choose Beacon again?"

The black-haired girl sighed and put her book away. "You're going to keep talking aren't you? Fine, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Blake. Blake Belladonna."

Weiss looked at her and frowned. "Belladonna... I am sure I have heard that name before..."

Blake seemed to tense slightly, but Ruby ignored that, in favour of getting the teams properly introduced to each other. It couldn't be anything serious after all. And it could be good to have two teams with Grimm getting on.

[]

It was time for the last lesson of the day, and Jaune was quite proud of himself for not being found out so far. Of course, this lesson was a practical combat one, so he had to hope that he wouldn't be called up to fight.

Miss Goodwitch was waiting, impatiently if the way she twitched her riding crop was any indication, while the class entered the room.

"Professor Ozpin has taken an unusual interest in who I call up to the spars," she began once she was sure everyone had arrived. "Now, these spars have certain rules. First, spars will end once one participants aura enters the red or is otherwise rendered unable to fight. This will be enforced," she stated, slashing her riding crop through the air. "If either participant leaves the arena they loose as well. Second, explosives and other highly dangerous weaponry or semblances are not permitted. These are the basic rules that must be followed at all times. Now, Ozpin has determined the order of fights for this lesson. We will start with team leaders. First shall be Cardin Winchester and Jaune Arc. Will they retrieve their weapons and get ready?"

Jaune did his best not to groan. Of course he would be up first.

[]

Cardin grinned, twirling the Executioner, his mace, as he as he faced his opponent.

It should be interesting to see the skills of someone else who got into Beacon without a fancy mechashift weapon. After all, he already knew the skills and fighting styles of his friends.

The grin turned into a frown as he saw how Jaune stood and held his weapon and shield. The only reason for a competent fighter to act like that would be to trick their foe into lowering their guard, which would only be effective against someone who didn't already know they were skilled enough to be in Beacon.

"Begin," called Goodwitch, and Cardin launched into an attack, clearly broadcasting the strike. He knew full well that he left an apparent opening on his left side, but only a fast or skilled opponent could hope to take advantage and most would be better served dodging and getting a better idea of his skills.

Executioner hit the shield dead-on, driving Jaune to his knees.

Something snapped within Cardin. Jaune was making traditionalists, like him and his team, look bad.

"Angle your shield," he roared, swinging again, this time sending the shield out of his hand.

Jaune tried to get his sword ready to block, but Cardin just changed his swing, avoiding the sword and driving the air out of Jaunes lungs.

"Pathetic," he muttered as Jaune fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Jaune unable to fight, Cardin wins," Goodwitch announced as the lights turned back on.

Cardin glared at Jaune for a second or so, then hauled him to his feet and strode back to the lockers. He was going to have to train Jaune to prevent him making traditionalists the laughingstock of Beacon.

"That fight was clearly a bad matchup," Goodwitch was telling the class, "over too quick to properly gauge the skills or weaknesses of the participants. Our next match will be..." she paused and sighed. "Ruby Rose and the Ursa."

[]

Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose as fast as she could and raced back into the room, not wanting to keep anyone waiting as, after all, her opponent didn't have any equipment to collect.

This would be an interesting match, she realised. Her training had been all about killing Grimm, so she would be better prepared than against another person, but then she wouldn't be worried about trying to kill her opponent.

Just a few days ago she wouldn't have been too concerned about accidentally killing a Grimm, even one that was somehow studying at Beacon, but after her time with Drei she was changing her mind about that.

When they weren't trying to kill people Grimm were just like animals after all.

She took her place opposite the Ursa and offered it a nervous smile.

"I'll try to be careful," she assured it.

"Begin," miss Goodwitch announced, and Ruby dashed towards the Ursa, angling Crescent Rose to target its front paw, so that if something went wrong it should be able to recover.

The Ursa had also taken the announcement as signal to lunge, getting the timing to catch the blade of Crescent Rose and push it to the ground, a grey-brown glow sparking around the contact point.

It was much stronger than she had expected, and it was only now Ruby realised how a Grimm so much slower than a Beowolf could be dangerous.

She ducked its other paw, trying to pull Crescent Rose free, but to no avail.

With only a brief window before the Ursa would hit her, and unable to fight without a weapon, Ruby did the only thing she could think of, and fired.

The recoil, one of the main reasons she had chosen a sniper for Crescent Roses gun form, threw the Ursa sufficiently off balance for her to get free, swinging Crescent Rose entirely around her body to land a solid blow upon her opponent.

The Ursa ducked back, then caught another strike by blocking the main body of Crescent Rose with one paw while swinging another to land a blow of its own.

Ruby dodged by swinging herself over her weapon, managing to land a kick on its head by sheer chance, falling back to the ground. She leapt back to her feet, minimizing her vulnerability to attack, only to see the Ursa falling back.

Ruby frowned. There had to be some reason the Ursa kept retreating rather than going on the offensive. Why would...

She grinned.

It was obvious.

She dashed forward, but was ready for the Ursas attempt to throw her from the ring and instead spun Crescent Rose, braced the stock against her opponent, and pulled the trigger, letting the recoil push the Ursa off balance and out of bounds.

She had kept hold of Crescent Rose, of course, and added her momentum to the force pushing the Ursa out of bounds, but with the Ursa going first she surely won!

"Match over," miss Goodwitch announced. "Miss Rose wins through ring out. I must say, I wasn't expecting such use of tactics in a match like this. As you all no doubt saw, the Ursa, unable to match miss Roses speed, chose to try and force her out of bounds, which left it vulnerable to such a tactic from miss Rose herself. I advise you all to take onboard the lesson that there is often another way to win. Next up is..."

[]

Jaune had barely returned to team ANVLs room when he was dragged back out by his team, in order to train him to fight.

"Aura may let you endure hits," Ren began, "but it is usually better not to take the loss if at all possible. Taking a hit straight on your shield bares very little difference to just tanking the hit with aura."

"But then what is the point of having a shield?"

"Angle it to merely deflect the blow. That way you may also create an opening. Try against Nora."

Jaune barely managed to get his shield in the way of the blow, by chance deflecting Maghnild rather than absorbing the hit like he had in the official spar.

He had to admit that the impact was a lot less painful, and given Noras attitude in general he doubted it would be because she held back. Even if he was still forced to step back.

Ren sighed. "You're not standing properly. You need to brace yourself to use a shield well. Like this..."

Jaune groaned as he followed Rens instruction. Who knew his teammate could be such a taskmaster?

**AN: **and so my brief hiatus is over. The plan had been to create a backlog of chapters to publish, but alas the situation altering work schedules has rendered me unable to do so. My secondary objective, to start publishing a second fanfiction, has also been delayed. It will probably still happen, and soon, but not quite yet. To explain my plan for multiple fanfics; no two shall use the same source (to avoid confusing versions of characters), there shall be a main story (this one) that shall be my focus with the other worked on only when I feel the main has made enough progress over the period.


	8. Chapter 8: the Bargains

The good and bad Bargains

Pyrrha looked around the cafeteria, checking for the teams her team was friendly with, as they ate breakfast.

There was team RWBY, whose leader had brought them over due to recognising a member of her team, sat at a small table, seemingly added to cope with the extra students, and team ANVL, whose leader she had considered for her partner, just arriving and picking up their food.

She had decided to try and find someone as protection against being partnered with someone who just saw her as the championship fighter rather than as Pyrrha Nikos, but the announcement of Salem, queen of the Grimm, had distracted everyone that might have been planning to secure her as partner, and then the person she had selected as possible shield from such partners had been launched into a Nevermore and she lost her chance.

It was hard not to consider how different it would have been, if she had been partnered with Jaune, whether he would have proven what she suspected of his character, but such musings were meaningless.

As she spotted the teams she couldn't help but frown. For some reason both team leaders looked as though they hadn't got much sleep.

Jaunes teammates, the human ones at least, also looked as though they had stayed up late, but not to the same degree as their leader.

It was quite possible nobody else had noticed, she was much more used to looking over humans and faunus for possible weaknesses than most Huntsmen or Huntresses after all, but that didn't do anything for answering why they might be so tired.

A thought crossed her mind, after all everyone knew by this point that Jaunes teammates were together, no matter what they maintained, or at least wanted to be, so if they were tired and the team leaders as well...

She shook her head. Even if she was right it was none of her business.

Her musings were interrupted by a question.

"Do you mind if we join you?"

It was team ANVL.

"I think we should stick together," Jaune continued, "us with Grimm on our teams. I mean, nobodies actually gone as far as to try and bully us," his teammate shook his head slightly, as if to say there had been attempts at bullying, "but it would still be best to stick together."

She blinked. That was mostly coherent, but not completely. Could it be the lack of sleep?

"I have no problem with it," she glanced at her team, "I don't think the rest of my team do either, so feel free."

Her team leader, the Ursa, made a sound of agreement, and team ANVL took seats at their table.

"Thanks. So, uh, who were you again?"

Pyrrha felt her lip twitch towards a smile. "Pyrrha Nikos," she introduced herself. "I'm from Mistral."

"Jaune," he began, before his teammate interrupted.

"Nora! And this is Ren, we're from Anima too. Originally anyway. Why did you pick Beacon?"

It didn't seem to Pyrrha that Nora recognised her, which was quite surprising given how her personality should have made the tournaments appeal to her. While she assumed Nora was from Vale it wasn't too weird, as they had to have their own tournaments given some of the opponents she had faced, but now it didn't make sense that she hadn't faced Nora in the ring.

"Uh, what do you mean about Anima and Mistral?"

Blake slammed her book down. "How do you not know this? Anima is the continent, Mistral is just the main city. I know _Atlas _renamed their continent for their city, but that doesn't mean anywhere else should follow their example."

Jaune scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed manner. "I never was too good with geography."

Pyrrha stifled a laugh. There was just something about him that drew her attention. It wasn't just that she was interested in blondes. No, definitely not.

"Aren't you team leader though? It seems important for you to know about where you're operating. You'll study it, I trust?"

He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I have a few other things to look up as well. But," he glanced at his team, "you can let me know what I need to, right? I mean, as a team it's all about working together rather than just relying upon one person."

Pyrrha found herself nodding. Her team was nothing like that, but surely that is how Professor Ozpin intended the teams to function.

It was something to think about during the day, she decided, as the teams continued to talk until it was time for lessons.

[]

Ruby did her best to focus on what doctor Oobleck was telling them, but he talked way too fast. It didn't help that he kept practically teleporting from place to place.

She realised it might seem ironic to people that she of all people would have trouble following someone because they went too fast, but her semblance didn't accelerate her thoughts. And anyway, it should be obvious that she made sure to limit her rate of speech, as what was the point in talking too fast for people to follow anyway?

About all she could tell about the lecture was that it involved Faunus in some way.

"Has anyone been targeted due to their Faunus heritage?"

There were a few hands raised among the students, the mere thought of which made Ruby angry. What was wrong with some people? Faunus were just other people, and everyone here should be focused on the Grimm instead of having bullying distract from their training.

"Terrible, just terrible," Oobleck clearly agreed with her about their treatment. "I hope you all realise that you can come to me with any problems you face. Does anyone know when the course of the war changed?"

"The battle of Fort Castle," Weiss immediately spoke up. It did sound familiar to Ruby...

"Can anyone tell me what caused general Lagunes defeat in the battle? Miss Valkyrie."

"Stupidity!"

"That is not the right answer-"

"I mean lack of intelligence! That's it isn't it?"

It was clear that Oobleck was torn whether to accept the answer or not. On the one hand, that was technically correct and it was rare for Nora to pay any attention in class, on the other the answer could be used for any mistake and lacked a certain historical integrity.

"An incomplete answer. Can anyone share what it was that general Lagune didn't know?"

"Faunus can see clearly in the dark."

"Exactly right, miss Belladonna. If he hadn't decided to launch a night attack his forces wouldn't have been overwhelmed in quite the same manner."

The brief question and answer finished, the doctor went back to his fast-paced lecturing. Ruby let her attention wander and glanced at the seats behind her.

Cardin was glaring in the direction of team ANVL.

She frowned. The first person to give her any help at Beacon was the leader of team ANVL, and from what she'd seen of Cardin he made her think of a bully.

Of course, it wasn't as if there was any place for bullies in Beacon, but she was hardly going to take any risks around someone who helped her. She was going to have to investigate!

Just so long as it didn't get in the way of her other plans...

[]

"Do you have any idea why Cardin might have been glaring at you?"

lunch had barely began and Jaune hadn't been expecting to have team RWBY's leader to drag her team over (not literally, although that had been known to happen), nor for her to start questioning him.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"In Ooblecks lesson I caught Cardin glaring at you."

Jaune sighed. "He decided to help teach me. Said that as I was I disgraced the traditionalists."

"Hey, why didn't you tell us?"

Nora didn't sound to him as though she was overly upset, rather using a more teasing tone of voice.

"How does that lead to him glaring at you in class?"

"It only happened last night, I didn't have much of a chance. And Cardin decided I need more confidence. He wanted me to stand up and give an answer."

"We need to figure out a schedule," Ren sighed. "If you train through the night it'll do more harm than good."

"Why do you need extra training anyway? How did you get into Beacon if you didn't already know the basics?"

"Eheheh," Ruby couldn't help but laugh nervously at Weiss' words, even if they weren't aimed at her. "Anyway, why didn't you come to us for help? I know we barely know each other, but you've got to admit we're much friendlier than Cardin."

Yang snorted. "Are you seriously trying to pretend that you're willing to study more than you need to sis?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think Cardin would be happy if I abandoned his lessons."

"I could-"

"I also doubt he would accept having someone else join the lessons. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with a compromise about the timing of the lessons."

"This could be the time to find out, his team just came in," Nora helpfully pointed out. "Oh," she continued as she saw them walking over to harass one of the Faunus students, "well, time to break some legs."

[]

Team WLDS was late showing up to lunch.

Granted, it was only Dove who had been ordered to stay behind, but Cardin wasn't one to leave any of his team behind, even in the academy rather than on a mission.

As they walked through the corridors many other students watched them or backed away.

It made Cardin grind his teeth.

It was still the first full week of classes and already people were writing him and his team off as bullies. Okay, sure, it wasn't unknown for him to pick fights with other students, but they were intending to become Huntsmen (occasionally Huntresses) and it wasn't as though he went all out against them when he did.

Okay, he sometimes went all out against them, but that was only those who were entirely unsuited to the career. It was good for their life expectancy.

Just like the way he toughened the others up.

It was for the good of the kingdom.

As they entered the cafeteria he spotted one of the students he remembered from some of their lessons but not from initiation. From what he'd seen she had problems with confidence, explaining why she would be covering first year subjects as well as those for whatever year she was actually in.

He led his team straight over to her. If she couldn't deal with a group of supposed bullies she would be unlikely to function in the more public elements of a Huntresses job. And if she could deal with them it should help with her confidence.

"Wh-what do you want?"

It didn't do much for his opinion of her the way she was so hesitant talking to people in the middle of the Beacon cafeteria.

"You're not really cut out to be a Huntress, are you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

There was a hint of anger in her voice, but suppressed.

He grabbed her ears, pulling them up over her head.

"Let go, you're hurting me!"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Cardin couldn't help getting angry. For this girl to be here in Beacon it meant that another student who applied didn't get in. One with enough confidence to inspire the civilians they protected, allowing their emotions to protect them further against the Grimm.

The girl barely struggled against him, squirming in his grasp instead.

"And you're supposed to be a Huntress," he scoffed, releasing her ears and letting her fall to the ground.

He was all set to walk away when he noticed the people staring in the direction of his team. Getting the feeling that he was missing something he turned back around, and saw his teams Seer floating towards the girl with its tentacles extended.

There was one thought that immediately sprung to mind.

"Wait, get away from her," he immediately called to his Grimm teammate. He didn't want to think about what his teams reputation would end up like if this continued.

Sky and Dove grabbed the Seer and dragged it away from the girl, doing their best to avoid its tentacles.

Cardin thought quickly. "Back to the room, we need a team meeting."

[]

Jaune walked his teams Grimm to the rooftop it had adopted for sleeping. Nothing much had happened since lunch, leaving Cardins earlier actions on his mind.

"There you are," Cardins voice stated from behind him.

Jaune turned to face him. "Why did you do that to Velvet?"

Cardin frowned. "Who?"

"The Faunus. At lunch."

"She needs to toughen up. It was the best way to deal with it. The seer... that wasn't intentional," he acknowledged awkwardly. "I've talked to it, but I'm not totally sure if it understood."

"I can't take lessons from someone who treats people like that. The deal is off."

Jaune tried not to think about what he'd just done as he walked back into the building, knowing that if he did he wouldn't be able to act so confidently.

Behind him Cardin spoke. "You think you can get away with talking to me like that?"

Jaune left before Cardin finished his thought. "I knew you had a backbone somewhere."

[]

Cardin was still on the roof when Russel found him.

"I guess your team wants you to talk to me as well?"

"One of them, we're not exactly united as a team," he admitted.

It had been his partner, confronting him after lunch. He doubted that he would have got through initiation and into Beacon without her and things like that created a debt as far as the more traditionally minded Huntsmen-in-Training were concerned.

She had been... _concerned_ about whether he shared the attitude about Faunus that Cardin appeared to.

When he had convinced her that he no real opinion about the matter she had convinced him to talk with Cardin about his behaviour.

"She wants you to stop treating Faunus like that."

"I was trying to help her, get her to toughen up or become more confident, whatever works," Cardin stated out of anger.

He wasn't always too good about managing his anger, and keeping it under control during the encounter with Jaune had strained him to his limit.

"I owed her, otherwise I wouldn't have agreed."

"Fine, I won't do anything, but only if _you_ take responsibility for getting them ready for action. If you can't convince me they will still be ready for life after Beacon the deal is off. Understood?"

"U-understood. I'll see if my team will help. They got me into this agreement after all."

* * *

AN: Sorry about the delays in this chapter. I decided to go for a slightly different style in the opening and to start working on making a version of Cardin I could be happier about using which caused a certain amount of writers block (elements of the lunch scene and rooftop meeting had been planned for a while which is more than I can usually say), and then real life caused more problms in finding time t write while in a mental state I was able to write in.


	9. Chapter 9: Intermission

Intermission: staff meeting

The first week of Beacon was coming to an end, and Salem was surprised at how normal it felt to her already.

It had been an entire world ago that she had last truly experienced life around other people.

Granted, she did have her followers visit her tower but they didn't live there, it was just visits.

But now she was living in the same place as so many other people, a place they considered home.

It truly brought home what she had lost, reminding her of her plans when humanity was restored. Perhaps it was time to return to those plans.

She shook her head. There was no way that Ozma was going to let her do that.

Speaking of Ozma, he was heading up a staff meeting.

"And how has our newest staff member been working out?"

"I won't deny I had my concerns," Goodwitch admitted, "especially after everything you told me about her," she commented towards Ozma, "but they seem to be unfounded. Even the Grimm have been well behaved. Better than the regular students in certain cases."

"I noticed some of this behaviour, the leaders of team WLDS. Is there a reason you let him get away with acting like that?" Salem was genuinely curious as to their reasons. It wasn't like she had any real experience with bullying in the first place. Growing up she had been kept away from others, and since then she was never the sort of person to be a target. And Grimm never behaved in that manner.

"There would be certain issues if a student was expelled mid-term," Ozma explained. "And this also gives him a chance to learn better attitude. Not to forget that it helps students who need it to toughen up."

"That isn't to say that we wouldn't do anything if one of his victims came to us. Unfortunately it is very rare for students to realise it is an option."

"Well said. Anyone with anything to add?"

"Her unique viewpoint has given me a lot more to cover in Grimm studies. In fact the topic hasn't changed so much since..."

By mutual agreement agreement the others ignored the rest of whatever it was Port was saying.

Ozma nodded. "As I expected. Any concerns that need raising?"

"Have you mentioned the extra students to Vales leadership yet?"

Ozma raised an eyebrow over a long drink from his mug.

"It is hardly fair to keep students locked up in the academy all the time, especially when others can visit the city after all."

"You have a point. I'll make sure to have a word with the council to prepare them. I hardly want you be able to accuse us of bias. There is time before we need to worry, the first years have their trip to forever fall this weekend so they won't have a chance to visit the city anyway. Is there anything we need to know about the trip?"

"I don't think so. I would appreciate additional staff presence just in case, but I am confident in my ability to take care of any problems that may arise."

"Good. The only other thing would be the Vytal festival. I'll make sure to bring up the participation of our full teams when I explain the Grimm students to the council. Is there anything else?"

Salem was unsurprised about the hands-off approach Ozma was taking.

He had never really been a leader. He just wasn't the sort to be given authority.

Sure he had always been a skilled fighter and an inspiration to those around him, but that didn't make him a leader.

It made her wonder how he dealt with paperwork, one of the inventions of this age she was glad she'd been able to avoid as long as she had.

It was obvious to her, and presumably the rest of the staff, that if Ozma tried to actually manage their jobs as you'd expect a headmaster to that he would pretty much end Beacon, if not the comcept of Huntsman academies.

_Mental note: should I loose my position, ensure Ozma takes on a hands-on role._

"Dismissed."

There wasn't all that much space in the lift down from the office, so Salem remained seated while others, notably Port and Peach, created a jam at the elevator door.

"Every time," Goodwitch sighed, also having not wasted her time getting up yet. She turned to Salem. "I apologise for doubting you, though I will ask if you have any idea why Ozpin was so insistent that you were intending to destroy us?"

"Not to mention how the queen of all Grimm is legitimately helping an academy that teaches how to fight Grimm? After what Oz did he doesn't believe that I can forgive him," Salem told her, leaving out the matter that she didn't intend to forgive Ozma. He hadn't nearly paid for his betrayal. "As for the Grimm... until I make contact they do as their nature commands. And even then there are limits."

There were two main sources of Grimm; the spring of the God of Darkness (which had long since spread through underground rivers to create pools across Remnant) and certain ancient Grimm that could spawn new Grimm.

When she first took the title 'Queen of all Grimm' it had been because her tower was constructed over the spring to ensure any Grimm that spawned from the power of the God of Darkness would be under her control. Combine that with the lack of any Grimm capable of spawning more in Remnant and she would have control of all Grimm.

It had only been when one of her followers, she could no longer remember who as they had been around for too short a time too long ago, had been attacked by a group of Grimm that she had discovered that there were still Grimm outside her control.

Her followers had investigated, upon her direction, and found a new spring.

Or rather a pool fed from the spring.

She had done her best to seal off the spring to once again control the source of Grimm (aside from any spawn-capable Grimm that were already created), but the pools had already formed and she had no way to seal them away.

She had been forced to develop a Grimm that would cause other Grimm to identify someone, her follower, as another Grimm.

If it had been her first attempt to create new Grimm things could have been so much worse.

Goodwitch was frowning. "Ozpin told me that you were the source of all Grimm, that there were none before you created them."

"He of all people would know that the Grimm existed long before me. I had wondered what lies he told his allies. I don't expect you to believe me," she hastily added, aware that Ozma had already had a long time to claim her loyalty and going too far in attempts to convince her would only damage the trust she was building with Goodwitch, "you can't trust what I tell you yet, I haven't earned your trust."

As the crush at the elevator was gone she took the opportunity to leave.

If she could convince Goodwitch of the truth it would be a major blow against Ozma.

She just had to avoid rushing it.

* * *

AN: Sorry about this, but I struggled to find any time when I felt capable of writing and then during the periods when I felt able to I drew a blank as to how to deal with Forever Fall (as the arc is no longer really needed), and ended up deciding to release what would have been the start of the chapter as is. On evaluation, it is a bit long for a single scene in a chapter, so releasing it as an intermission could be for the best.

In other news, I have realised that the genre tags for this story may not be the best fit. The problem was summing it up with two tags, and then watching as the story grew from the pure comedy I had intended. So if anyone has any ideas as to what the genre should be, I'd appreciate hearing their advice.


	10. Chapter 10: the Accident

The Accident

Cardin was grinning as he swung his mace at Jaune, who barely managed to get his shield in place.

With the blow blocked he was sent flying back, but thanks to his training from Ren he was able to flip to his feet rather than land on his back and scramble to his feet just as Cardin reached him again.

Instead he had bought space from his opponents attack, and at the cost of barely a sliver of aura.

Better yet, he had been able to grab Crocea Mors from where it had fallen earlier in the fight.

And this truly qualified as a fight, unlike his early efforts where he had been lucky if he lasted half a minute.

That said, he was still losing aura at a higher rate than Cardin; he might have more aura but Cardin dealt more damage per blow as well, and tended to avoid attacks rather than take them on a shield, giving him a certain advantage. And when he was hit, it was usually on his armour which, he had learned, took less aura to protect.

A glance at the scoreboard, his aura and Cardins both in the yellow, was all it took for Cardin to leap forward and land a solid blow before he could shield himself.

He was thrown back, landing outside the arena with his aura in the red, the match lost twice over.

"The match goes to mister Winchester," professor Goodwitch announced. "Mister Arc, you have shown a lot of improvement and it is good to see you take onboard my advice to be aware of your aura. My advice is for you to learn to check your aura without leaving yourself open in the same manner. Mister Winchester," she started, turning to face him, "I have warned you before about trying to showboat rather than taking your opponent seriously. I appreciate that you took this fight more seriously than previous matches, but you still took more hits than you should have." She turned to face the entire class again. "We don't have any time for further matches today, but there is something I have to tell you. It is the start of the weekend, and so Vale is open to you. The headmaster has informed the council of our... more unusual students, and they have arranged matters to allow all our students to visit the city if they choose, as long as they behave themselves in a manner befitting students of Beacon. Dismissed."

Jaune groaned as he forced himself to his feet.

Each fight against Cardin turned out the same. He had managed to eke out the occasional win again some other students, but Cardin was just too strong.

"You keep improving. Perhaps you really are serious about this," a voice said above him, and Jaune was shocked to see it was Cardin, who was actually offering a hand to help him up.

"Of course I'm serious," Jaune snapped. "Would I be here if I wasn't?"

Cardin pulled him up. "The way I've seen others here behave?"

He walked off, mace on his shoulder, quota of being nice apparently used up for the day.

"Jaune!" It was a familiar voice calling him, and he sighed as he turned to face her.

"Hey Ruby."

"I was so sure you were going to win that one! Next time for sure, right?"

"I don't think it was nearly as close as that. Hold on, I'm not giving up," he immediately defended himself, seeing Ruby about to get his case about letting anyone have the win against him rather than giving it his all, "I was just hoping to get more training before facing Cardin again."

He had been somewhat surprised when Ruby and her team first started approaching him after the trip to Forever Fall, but had soon gotten used to it. And after all, with their teams, plus URBN, spending most of the trip together, with the other teams withdrawing from those with Grimm (probably unconsciously given what they were like in Beacon), it was only natural that the teams had grown closer.

"Hmmph. Well, we were about to head into Vale anyway, and I wanted to see if you wanted to come."

"Sorry, but I've got to do some extra studying, so I'll probably be stuck looking around for libraries or bookshops, and if you aren't looking for any-"

"That's alright, as long as you come with us next time."

"It's a deal. See you round Ruby."

She smiled, clearly not too upset about it, before dashing off to her team.

His team was close to two others, he was actually managing to hold his own in spars, and Cardin was no longer targeting him so badly.

Things were really looking up.

[]

Things were looking down.

She had suggested the team head into Vale because one of the major draws Beacon had possessed was the chance to head into town each weekend if she wanted, rather than being limited to when her dad was willing to take them, and this was their first opportunity.

Sure, she had been to the city just a few weeks ago, and Beacon was good about letting them restock regular ammo they had used, but this should have been a chance to truly experience the city.

Sure, things had gone well at first, with them heading through the main parts of the city, even if people seemed nervous about Drei, but then Weiss had suggested they head to the docks.

She was rich wasn't she, Ruby had thought to herself, so she should know about unusual places in the city.

There was nothing like that here.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"The Vytal tournaments coming up," Weiss tried to defend herself, "I wanted to see what the city looked like before it got going."

"Nah, you wanted to scout out any arriving contestants. Isn't it a bit early for that? I mean, Beacon has barely started the year."

"Not all of the academies start at the same time, and I know for sure that Shade is in the middle of its break."

"Shade... wasn't that the Vacuan academy?"

Weiss was about to respond, when the sound of a disturbance on one of the docked ships drew their attention.

They watched, open-mouthed, as a monkey faunus (judging by his tail) jumped ship, dodging some men in uniform, and ran down the street towards them, before suddenly spotting them (or more likely Drei) and dashing down a different alley.

"After him," Weiss called out, only to be overruled by Ruby.

"No, Drei stay. We need to set a good example for Drei."

Weiss turned to face her, about to berate her team leader, before pausing. "Quite correct," she decided. "If we were to chase him with Drei it would be easily misconstrued. And we cannot leave Drei behind. I was mistaken in my belief as to the best course of action."

"Excuse me," someone behind them, presumably off a ship, said to them, "could you help me find-"

The stranger, a scorpion faunus as it turned out, froze as the team turned to face him and he caught a sight of Rubys face or rather

"Accursed silver eyes," he cried, leaping towards her, tail poised to strike.

Ruby let out an eek, diving back, which wouldn't have done her much good if it wasn't for Drei leaping into him from the side and causing the strangers attack to go off course, his tail striking deep into the ground.

Yang wasn't much slower than Drei, placing herself between him and her sister, deploying Ember Celica as she prepared to teach him why targeting a group of Huntresses (in training plus Drei) was a bad idea, while Weiss fell back, desperately looking round for anything she could do to help.

The stranger tensed himself, clearly preparing to attack, but his tail was trapped too tightly and kept him functionally trapped as Ruby shakily got to her feet.

He was speaking some kind of deranged monologue the entire time since he saw Rubys eyes, but none of it was clear enough for them to understand.

"Wh-what should we do?" It was Ruby asking the question, her confidence in the role of leader shaken by the unexpected attack.

"We-ell, if he's trapped here, we should probably just call the police and let them deal with it," Yang began, only for the madman to break free and prepare to attack once more.

Yang started to launch a counterattack, to hit him before he could get near Ruby, only for that plan to be derailed as a vaguely familiar voice called out.

"Tyrian, no!"

The faunus immediately complied, managing to go straight from launching himself forwards in an all-out attack to standing in an innocent posture as the speaker, who Yang now recognised as Salem, approached. With an authority figure, even one as questionable as Salem, present and the maniac stopped, she halted her own attack, but remained ready for if he should attack again.

"Tyrian," Salem began, "what did I tell you to do?"

"To wait at the docks until you found me, my goddess," he replied in an innocent tone, completely at odds with how he just been acting.

"So why did you launch an unprovoked attack on a group of students, one including a Grimm?"

"B-but, the silver eyes-"

"That I've told you how many times not to concern yourself with?"

"B-but she was with a Grimm-"

"And what did I tell you about how to behave while in Vale?"

"B-but my goddess..."

Salem groaned and pressed against the bridge of her nose, as if to stave off a headache. "And they questioned my plan to lock you in the tower. Fine, Tyrian, you will come with me, and this time do as I told you."

She turned to lead the insane faunus away.

"W-wait a minute, he attacks my team leader and you just tell him off like a child and take him away without doing anything about it?"

Salem turned to face Weiss. "Would you prefer I leave him in the city? Or send him somewhere else on his own? And who says he isn't going to be punished?" Her eyes flashed as she spoke, making it clear that Tyrian was going to regret his actions.

The group watched as the faunus trailed after Salem, whimpering like a dog that knew it had behaved particularly badly. Things had not gone as they had expected in any way.

[]

Team URBN had decided to take the opportunity to head into the city themselves, even if they had spent most of the time split up into the pairs they formed in initiation, what with Blake heading into a bookshop with Russel following as he apparently needed someone around to look after him at all times, leaving Pyrrha wandering about with her team leader, just taking in the sights.

It was quite an experience for her, seeing as Vales architectural style was very different to that of Mistral.

She wasn't overly surprised at running into team RWBY, except that they weren't acting their usual, lively selves.

She hesitated, not sure whether to try to start a conversation with them or not.

She didn't really have any experience with friends, not even enough to be sure whether she could consider the team as being her friends.

The decision was taken out of her hands when Ruby spotted her and called out, cheering up immediately.

"Oh, hey Pyrrha!"

"Hey guys, what's up? You don't quite look like yourselves."

"We were attacked by someone, someone connected to Salem."

Pyrrha blinked. "Not the sort of thing you expect from coming into the city. But... connected to Salem?"

"She wasn't involved in the attack," Ruby assured her, brushing off any such concerns, "in fact she got him to stop."

"That's a relief. I guess it explains why you're out here, by the docks."

"Oh no, that was all Weiss trying to scout out competitors in the tournament."

"Hey!"

Yang started laughing, clearly starting to get over the earlier scare. "Hard to argue with the truth, Weiss. Anyway, why are you over here Pyrrha? It seems odd for you to be at the docks."

"It was my partners idea," Pyrrha began, before pausing. "I think... er..."

She stopped.

The Ursa hadn't been leading the way, had he? But it definitely wasn't her idea to head this way...

Why had they come here anyway?

[]

Salem had finally been forced to literally start dragging Tyrian after her, but nonetheless they had reached Ozmas office.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw them.

"You haven't come to talk very much, so I guess you must have something important to discuss."

"Yes," Salem responded, doing her best to avoid snarling, "you could say that. Due to your insistence that I stay here I was forced to call Tyrian here," she indicated the faunus she had been dragging, "in order to keep him from causing trouble."

"My goddess I-"

"Silence!" Spending the time to keep Tyrian in line had demonstrated that she could still get a headache. Even with all the changes she had undergone thanks to the gods. "Thanks to some extra paperwork you-"

"I think that was Glynda."

"-insisted I finish I got to the docks late to meet Tyrian, only to find that, because of your delays, Tyrian had taken the chance to attack a group of students, which I had managed to prevent for many years now."

"Wait, he attacked my students?"

"I stopped him before he could do any damage."

"Nonetheless this goes against the terms of the agreement we made-"

"But I am willing to overlook it if you agree to a few new terms of mine."

Ozma frowned. "I do not see how I am supposed to be responsible for breaking our agreement."

"I made it clear that I would need to manage the situation around certain of my allies carefully, and any interference would make you responsible for any damage caused."

Ozma paused. "I suppose I have no choice. But there are limits to what I could do about Tyrian. He did make an unprovoked attack-"

"Not even I could convince him to allow himself to be arrested."

"-the only way I could protect him would be if he were employed at Beacon."

"Tyrian is mostly just good at combat. Have him assist Goodwitch with lessons. And any paperwork that you would give me goes to him."

"P-paperwork!?"

It seemed Tyrian had finally learned what fear was like.

"Indeed. You did need to be punished after all."

Ozma sighed. "Anything else?"

"Yes, as we were heading back into Beacon we ran into a strange girl who decided I was her friend. Said something about how she had been told 'a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet', and introduced herself as Penny... something."

"I think that James said something about a student visiting from Atlas by that name..."

Salem glared at him. "I am not the sort to befriend random girls in the city. Fix this."

* * *

AN: Unusually I managed to write this chapter soon after publishing the last chapter of my previous story, which took long enough to finish that it probably feels like this chapter was delayed. Part of the speed comes down to the elements I had already planned, like the Penny makes friends with Salem whether she wants it or not or professor Callows (which I had thought of mentioning in a previous chapters note as though it was just a joke but didn't get round to) or even the Pyrrha doesn't kow how she's begining to understand the Ursa. I decided to skip over Forever Fall because nothing too major would happen there without the problems from Cardin, and I'm not exactly confident about writing a section that just serves to build up a groups friendship.

There will be further consequences from the dock scene, just not quite yet.

And finally, as nobody seems to have noticed, I just thought I'd mention how fun it has been, finding Grimm fairy tales to give chapters names (when I don't just work the word Grimm in). There are quite a few that will be just perfect.


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